2018 Envinate Taganan Campanario Blanco

Envínate, which literally translates as “Wine Yourself,” is the project of four young passionate winemakers: Roberto Santana (based in the Canaries), Jose Martinez (Almansa), Laura Ramos (Murcia) and Alfonso Torrente (Ribeira Sacra). The four met while studying oenology in Alicante in 2005 and formed a collective based on a shared philosophy of wine and a desire to explore the ancient, Atlantic influenced terroirs of western Spain.

In 2008, the group bought their first vineyard in Ribeira Sacra, then took control of vineyards on the north side of Tenerife, and followed with a single patch of Tinta Amarela in Extremadura. Finally, in 2012, the group began working with a site in Almansa, where Jose lives and works, planted to Garnacha Tintorera. In each region, they work old, previously abandoned vineyards, but importantly for a project with such spread, one of the team lives full time in each location, working the vineyards year round.

Táganan is both the name of a village on the very north eastern tip of Tenerife and a local term for steep slope. Envínate make two reds and two whites from this village; Táganan Tinto and Blanco, which come from multiple old parcels and two crus, parcelas Campanario and Margalagua. All the wines are field blends containing a dizzying array of obscure local varieties grown on very old bush vines in the steep volcanic soils overlooking the ocean.

Other Reviews....
The most anticipated Envínate white since they had to stop making the single-vineyard Amogoje is here, the 2018 Táganan Campanario Blanco from a one-hectare vineyard they purchased in late 2017 from Antonio Delgado, who is old and cannot work it anymore and his sons are not involved in the vineyards. This is from vineyard in the village of Almáciga in a zone known as El Campanario (the bell tower), from a north-facing plot that's very close to the sea and planted with an unusual blend of grapes, mostly Forastera Gomera, Gual (known as Boal in Madeira) and Verdello plus of course Listán Blanco. The bottled wine is 12.5% alcohol with amazing freshness and incredible acidity readings, a pH of 3.05 and seven grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid), if you think this is a subtropical island. It matured in neutral 600-liter oak barrels for 12 months without racking or any sulfur added to it. It has a golden color, from the varietal mix used. This comes from an amazing place that looks like a jungle (I was thinking of a coffee plantation in Peru or something like that), and it's incredible how fresh the wine is. This is the lower part of the vineyard they used to vinify and bottle separately, Amogoge. This is highly personal and somewhat reminds me of some whites from the island of La Palma with a somewhat medicinal undertone that makes it quite different. 1,300 bottles were filled in January 2020.
96 points
Luis Gutiérrez - Wine Advocate (Sept 2020)