Bodegas Viñátigo Listán Negro Tenerife 2023
A deliciously distinctive red wine made from Listán Negro, with ripe notes of red and black fruits entwined with layers of pepper, fig leaf, flinty minerality and an intriguing smoky character.
The absence of phylloxera in the Canary Islands has preserved many unique varieties creating an unparalleled viticultural heritage. As a result, all of the vines are ungrafted, allowing for a complete interaction between the plant and soil, helping to impart marked minerality. Together the volcanic soils, the cooling Alisios trade winds and the distinctive microclimates contribute to the extraordinary personalities of the wines. The vines are grown in a constellation of small vineyards in the North and Northwest of the island, where they are trained following a variety of methods, from the traditional ‘rastras’ in the Northwest, to the ‘cordón trenzado’ in the Orotava Valley, while some vineyards are trained according to the Vertical Shoot Position (VSP) method. The vineyards are managed sustainably without the use of herbicides or synthetic products. Instead, cover crops fertilise the soils naturally and products such as sulphur, copper or cinnamon are used, if necessary. Due to the orography of the land, the vineyards are manually cultivated resulting in handcrafted wines.
The grapes were vinified using gravity. Spontaneous fermentation took place with wild yeasts in vats of varying sizes, depending on the yields. Listán Negro is a variety that shows freshness and fluency, so vinification took place without any whole-bunch or stemmed material, in order to retain the integrity and identity of the fruit’s origin. The wine rested in old barrels for three months.
| RRP | £26.50 |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Alcoholic strength | 13.5% |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Tenerife |
| Grapes | Listán Negro 100% |
| Residual sugar (g/l) | 2 |
| Body | C |
| Contains sulphites | Yes |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Milk | No |
| Eggs | No |
| Organic | No |
| Biodynamic | No |
| Closure | Cork |
The philosophy behind Bodegas Viñátigo is to revive and promote the extensive varietal heritage of the Canary Islands. The journey started in the 1990s, at a century-old plot in the village of La Guancha, in the north of Tenerife, where the traditional varieties of Listán Blanco and Listán Negro were vinified in the old family winery. With an uncompromising eye on quality, this dynamic winemaking project has subsequently expanded to produce thrilling, modern wines from varieties such as Gual, Marmajuelo and Vijariego. Bodegas Viñátigo’s ethos is respectful of the environment, both in the vineyard where sustainable winegrowing practices are applied; and in the construction of its state-of-the-art winery which was built in 1997 from local materials and designed to minimise energy consumption.
