Palomino

A Summer of Island Wines and Mineral Whites – Tasting the New Release Envinate Benje Blanco 2017…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The white 2017 Envinate Benje Blanco is produced from Listán Blanco (Palomino) grapes from the Santiago del Teide region in the northwest of the island, with old vines grown on the burnt volcanic slopes of Mount Teide at 1000 metres altitude.

Ungrafted and grown in the gobelet system, the vines are sourced from up to 15 different terroirs from 70 to 100+ year old vines, 60% of which were fermented and aged in concrete tanks and 40% fermented and aged in neutral barrels of 228 litres with a portion of the grapes fermented with skin contact. Production is small and demand high, so you’ll need to act quickly to secure a few bottles.

Envinate Benje Blanco 2017, DO Ycoden Daute Isora, Santiago del Teide, Tenerife, 12 Abv.

An expressive mineral wine, these old vine grapes are grown on black volcanic soils around Mount Teide which produce pronounced aromatics dominated by crushed gravel, dusty basalt, bruised apples, pear skins and maritime oyster shell salinity. The palate is pinpoint and focused with a very fine textural mouthfeel, crisp pithy white pear, dry white citrus, and freshly sliced Granny Smith apple fruits. The acidity is super bright and mouth watering and reinforces the steely character of this wine. In many ways a wine that challenges the senses and finishes with the sensation of sucking wet river pebbles with metallic pur sang bloody nuances. Perhaps not for novices, but this wine certainly ranks very highly among the world’s most intriguing mineral whites. Drink now till 2024+

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Laura Lorenzo and Daterra Viticultores Creating Breath-Taking Wines in the Val do Bibei, North West Spain…

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Hailing from Allariz in the province of Ourense, Laura Lorenzo enrolled in the local enology school at the tender age of 16 with definite ambition to become a winemaker. Upon graduation, she worked at the nearby Adega Cachín, and then overseas with Eben Sadie in South Africa and Achaval Ferrer in Argentina. After her various apprenticeships, Laura took over the reins at Dominio do Bibei, a dynamic, pioneering producer of fine wine in the Quiroga-Bibei subzone of Ribeira Sacra.

Laura worked there for 10 years developing an attractive style of winemaking that was fine-tuned and focused on the hillsides of the region, specifically to the terruño around the village of Manzaneda. In 2014 Laura and her partner, chef & artist partner Alvaro Dominguez, branched out on their own and formed Daterra Viticultores to cultivate the mountainside vineyards of the Bibei Valley.

Gavela da Vila is comprised of 100% old vine Palomino organically farmed at a variety of elevations, expositions, and soil types in the Val do Bibei. 90% of the grapes were destemmed, with the must seeing just a few hours of skin contact before pressing.

The wine was fermented with wild yeast in used 225 liter French oak barrels, and then raised on the lees in the same barrels for 6 months. Small amounts of sulfur were added after fermentation and at bottling. The wine was not clarified, cold stabilized or filtered.

Daterra Viticultores Gavela da Vila Palomino 2015, Manzaneda, Val do Bibei, 12.5 Abv.

A bright pale gold straw colour, there are plenty of tell tale signs of the wine’s short skin contact. The nose is rich and very expressive with complex notes of savoury pithy yellow citrus, yellow blossom, hazelnut and walnuts, dried orange peel and the most seductive saline, baked apple, aldehydic and oxidative Sherry-Manzanilla notes. The palate entry is electric and vibrant challenging the palate and provoking thought, but most certainly makes your mouth salivate with a saline briney zest, fresh zippy acids and a delicious spicy oxidative leaning yellow fruited finish laced with baked pears and vermouth spices. A really tantalising effort from an incredible new talent in Spain. Only 1,590 bottles produced. Drink now to 2026+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting The Highly Lauded Skerpioen 2015 Old Vines Series White From Sadie Family Wines… 

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A warm balmy evening in London with a fish braai in prospect called for an appropriate white wine match. With my sea bass marinating away and my prawn skewers primed for the BBQ, a saline, mineral driven white was called for. 


This beauty from Eben Sadie is a field blend of interplanted Chenin Blanc and Palomino vines. These unirrigated old bush vines were planted between the years 1958 to 1967 in extremely chalky soils in one of the coolest locations in the Swartland. 

Tasting with Eben and Rosa Kruger in March 2017

Of all Eben Sadie’s Old Vine Series wines, the Skerpioen white is perhaps the most intriguing of the lot. Often austere in youth, this wine is so mineral driven and restrained that it often confounds the critics. As Christian Eedes from South Africa’s Wine Magazine comments…. “a perplexing wine…” with a minerality and austerity that is often “mesmerising”. 


Sadie Family Old Vines Series Skerpioen 2015, Swartland, 14 Abv.

Pale straw yellow, this expressive 2015 has a spicy pithy nose of lime peel, lemon grass, dried herbs, liquid minerals and wet chalk. Very grown up and old-worldy. Layer upon layer of granite, crushed gravel and briney sea breeze salinity notes resonate. But there is a white peach, grassy, aromatic, savoury buttery note riding in tandem with the intense liquid minerality. The nose follows to the palate in a very precise, pin point manner. There is plenty of glycerol depth, pithy, dusty phenolic aromatics, and a rasping dry lemon, apple purée and a mineral austerity finish. From start to finish, the palate is electric and fresh with racy acids and remains thoroughly linear and focused. This wine’s greatness is firmly embedded in the philosophy of ‘less is more’.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

An Exciting New Palomino White Wine from Bodegas Hidalgo In Andalucia…

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La Gitana is one of the most iconic brands of Manzanilla and the flagship wine of Bodegas Hidalgo in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and today, fresh off the plane from South Africa, I hooked up with Luis Hidalgo to taste through not only his beautiful Manzanillas but also an exciting new still wine venture using Palomino.


The Palomino grapes for the Manzanilla wines are harvested in the bodega’s own vineyards in the areas of Balbaina y Miraflores, two of the most respected zones around Sanlúcar de Barrameda.


Besides their classic La Gitana, the same bodega has an older, single vineyard Manzanilla Pastrana, and since 2011, there has also been a highly limited Manzanilla La Gitana En Rama, a less filtered and more intense Manzanilla expression that is bottled twice a year.


The new Las 30 del Cuadrado still white wine is a homage to a unique 30 acre plot of old vine Palomino that are found inside the sought after district of Balbaina Alta. Using Palomino for still, non-sherry style wines is growing day by day, perhaps spurred on my the massive success of the Listan Blanco (aka Palomino) whites of Tenerife. This is an all together more exotic, fleshy, opulent style than the volcanic wines of Tenerife, but its definitely worth tracking down.


Bodegas Hidalgo Las 30 del Cuadrado 2016 Blanco, Andalucia, 13.8 Abv.

Rich straw yellow colour, this is no run of the mill white wine from Jerez. Made from grapes from average 70 year old non-trellised Palomino vines, the juice was fermented in old Manzanilla Pastrana Single Vineyard casks using indigenous yeast with battonage daily. 10 Bote were made and this bottling was from Bote No.3, which yielded 523 bottles (total production around 5,300) at 13.8 Abv. The nose is opulent and dense, layered with smoky, waxy yellow peach stone fruit, bruised apricots, dusty limestone, and hints of sea breeze and oyster shells. Wonderful, nutty, smoky, buttery nuances. The palate is rich and fleshy, round and full bodied, but also shows super saline, briney freshness, a sake rice wine umami note and spicy, burnt citrus, blossom and almond skin spice. There is lovely focus to the wine, fantastic fruit concentration and a long, salty, peachy, musky finish. An unusual wine, but oh so delicious.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)