WTN: Canary in the coal mine

[David M. Bueker]

• 2018 Envinate Valle de la Orotava Palo Blanco - Spain, Canary Islands, Tenerife, Valle de la Orotava (6/10/2020)
  My first wine from Tenerife in who knows how long, and it’s a wonderful reintroduction. The bracing acidity and bright citrus notes hit first, but even more notable are the salty, mineral notes and hovering dry hay and nut skin tones that add an additional layer of complexity. It’s a delicious wine on its own merits, and suggest a huge array of food matching possibilities. Very happy to now have this on my radar.

My favorite importer just started to bring this in. Need to have a chat with him.

My allocation of Envinate just came in.

[David M. Bueker]

Excellent. Looking forward to your thoughts.

Canary wines in Alberta? Best of luck!

Searched Canary Islands Sp. Got Ken Wright Canary Hill PN!!

Well, the venture makes wines from all over the more obscure areas of Spain. I started off with a red.

Albahra, 2018
This is a blend of Garnacha Tintorera (better known as Alicante Bouschet) and the indigenous obscure grape Moravia Agria from a single vineyard at 800 meters elevation in the Almansa region, at the southeastern tip of Castilla-La Mancha. It's a smoke and mineral tinged red, mostly red fruit, hints of flowers, silky and moreish. Its personality, as it comes across in its aromas and flavors, is quite idiosyncratic. I could try and list them, but descriptors wouldn't convey its foreignness. The great fun about coming across a new wine region is when the character of the wines transport you to a new land.