El País highlights Viñátigo Laderas de Teno 2022 as one of the great expressions of volcanic wine from Tenerife

The prestigious newspaper includes our single-vineyard wine among three selected reds to discover the winemaking personality of an island that continues to fascinate the world.

Viñátigo Laderas de Teno 2022 has been selected by El País as one of three red wines that offer a glimpse into the unique winemaking of Tenerife.

The recognition appears in the article "Three Volcanic Wines of Tenerife, the Grape Paradise that Fascinates the World," published on July 18 in the Gastronomy section of the prestigious newspaper and written by wine journalist Amaya Cervera.

Publication in a leading international publication like El País provides significant exposure for Tenerife wines and for a viticulture that finds its identity in the diversity of landscapes, altitudes, microclimates, and grape varieties that coexist on the island.

In this context, the selection of Laderas de Teno 2022 takes on special significance. The wine is presented as a single-vineyard offering within a selection of three volcanic reds designed to showcase different ways of interpreting the Tenerife terroir.

Tenerife, a Miniature Wine Continent

This report explores some of the factors that make Tenerife an exceptional place for viticulture: the influence of the cold Atlantic currents, the humidity of the trade winds, the significant differences in altitude, and volcanic soils that vary considerably from one area to another.

Amaya Cervera describes the island as a kind of miniature continent. From the centuries-old vineyards that slope down to the ocean in Taganana to the historic braided vines of the Orotava Valley, Tenerife preserves cultivation methods, varieties, and wine-growing landscapes with an identity difficult to find elsewhere.

The article also focuses on the Canary Islands' varietal heritage, preserved for centuries and now one of the main reasons for the growing interest in the islands' wines both within and outside of Spain.

It is precisely in this regard that El País recognizes the Méndez family's pioneering work in recovering minority Canarian grape varieties. This work is one of the pillars of Bodegas Viñátigo and is expressed both through single-varietal wines and through blends designed to interpret a specific landscape.

Teno Slopes: Four Varieties, One Unique Landscape

Teno Slopes 2022 is our first wine from a single vineyard. It originates in the El Palmar Valley, in Buenavista del Norte, within one of the most rugged and remote landscapes in northwest Tenerife.

The plot is located on the eroded slopes of the Teno Massif, the oldest geological formation on the island. Its opening towards the sea and its exposure to the trade winds create cool conditions that favor a slow and balanced ripening of the grapes.

As noted by El País, this location allows us to preserve the freshness and create an expression of the terroir in which the landscape acts not only as the origin, but as an essential part of the wine's identity.

Teno Slopes 2022 brings together four traditional varieties cultivated in the same plot: Tintilla, Baboso Negro, Vijariego Negro, and Bastardo Negro. Each grape variety contributes a different dimension, but all share the influence of the Atlantic climate and ancient, deeply eroded volcanic soils.

The result is a wine that speaks of Teno through its diversity. It's a blend where the varieties don't seek to dominate one another, but rather to construct a cohesive interpretation of their origin.

Expressiveness, complexity, and drinkability

In her assessment, Amaya Cervera describes Laderas de Teno 2022 as an expressive and complex wine. She highlights its fruity presence, herbal nuances, and consistency on the palate, as well as its remarkable drinkability.

This combination of depth and freshness represents one of the wine's essential characteristics. The altitude, exposure to the trade winds, and the slow ripening of the grapes allow for a precise, elegant expression, free from excessive concentration.

Ripe red fruits are complemented by hints of pomegranate, violets, tobacco, and a delicate smoky character linked to its volcanic origin. A profile that preserves the personality of the four varieties and, at the same time, reflects the identity of the landscape from which they come.

Viñátigo Laderas de Teno 2022

The Méndez family pioneered the recovery of rare Canary Island grape varieties. They vinify them separately and also use them in blends, as in this red wine from their collection of unique vineyard plots. The vineyard lies at an altitude of 650 metres, in a valley in the north-west of the island that opens out towards the sea, where the trade winds encourage the grapes to ripen slowly. Expressive and complex, it offers generous fruit, herbal notes and a well-structured palate, while remaining remarkably easy to drink.

Appellation: Islas Canarias

Grape varieties: Tintilla, Baboso Negro, Vijariego Negro and Bastardo Negro

Alcohol: 13%

Price: €30

A Recognition of Wine, But Also of the Land

The presence of Viñátigo Laderas de Teno 2022 in the pages of El País represents much more than a recommendation of a bottle. It signifies recognition of a way of understanding viticulture based on knowledge of the land, the preservation of the Canary Islands' varietal heritage, and the production of wines capable of faithfully expressing their place of origin.

It also contributes to projecting internationally the value of Tenerife as one of the most unique wine-growing regions in Europe. An island where the Atlantic, the trade winds, the altitude, the volcano, and the intervention of generations of winemakers have created a mosaic of unparalleled landscapes.

At Bodegas Viñátigo, we are grateful for the attention given to the volcanic wines of Tenerife by Amaya Cervera and El País. That Laderas de Teno is part of this selection encourages us to continue working on the recovery of our varieties and on the interpretation of landscapes that constitute an essential part of the Canary Islands' wine heritage.

Each bottle of Laderas de Teno contains four varieties, but tells a single story: that of a remote valley in northwest Tenerife open to the sea, shaped by the trade winds and rooted in the oldest soils on the island.

Read the original article published in El País.