(2024) An organic certified wine from volcanic slopes, bottled under DIAM cork and a bit of a discovery for me as I hadn't come across the bodega previously. This 12.5% alcohol wine shows more of the flinty reductive style, a little touch of gunflint, but the fruit comes through very nicely, herbal and citrussy and made in a very refreshing style with crisp acidity.
(2024) A delightful Malvasía Volcánica from Bodegas Vulcano's volcanic soils, this showed glimpses of those flinty nuances, but was mostly about dazzling fresh and mouth-watering fruit, somewhere between orange and lemon, with real juiciness. There are also floral notes and fresh, grassy herbs on the palate, adding to the sense of sheerness and energy here.
(2024) From arguably my favourite producer on the island, this is Malvasía volcánica from organic vineyards, made with natural yeasts, fermented and aged eight months in barrel and unfiltered so it threw a little tartaric sediment at the end of the bottle. It also garnered 94 points from The Wine Advocate apparently. Puro Rofe's wines are always in the reductive spectrum, with a struck-match and cordite whiff, but then gloriously fresh and vital fruit that sings on the palate. Lots of mineral suggestions here, saline, but it is far from lean, the fruit filling the mid-palate too before the acidity propels the finish.
(2024) 100% Listán Negro, a native variety of the Canary islands, this is picked and pressed in very cool conditions with minimum skin contact to produce a wine that is very pale in colour and only 11.5% alcohol. It is made in stainless steel. Fragrant, herbal, very ozoney and crisp, there's a touch of softening peach down, but this is a breezy and featherweight style. The palate follows a similar template, touching of stone fruits, but the whole picture mineral and light, stony, fresh and bright not just because of its acidity, but seems to be inherent in the wine.
(2024) A wine that seems widely distributed in the island's restaurants, and one of very good quality. It is made from the Malvasia Volcanica variety, a crossing of Marmajuelo (an indigenous white grape) and Malvasía Aromatica. Fresh and peachy on the nose, there's plenty citrus and a whiff of ozone. Mostly driven by fruit, there is a little hint of the delicate flint and smoke of its volcanic origins, in a stylish and always enjoyable wine. The stockist listed will ship to the UK.
(2024) 'Manto' is a special cuvée from Bodega La Geria, a selection of the best fruit fermented in steel with wild yeasts. This is amongst the most linear expressions of Malvasía Volcánica in my tasting, 12.5% alcohol and despite a couple of grams of residual sugar, an uncompromisingly dry style. It's all about the focused salts and lemon of the fruit and acidity. I enjoyed the bracing style of this, but felt it needed just a touch more fruit to ease the rather steely personality.
(2024) Malvasía Volcánica from selected growers, inoculated with yeasts selected from their vineyards. Some ageing on lees. This has a brightness and jasmine-like floral intensity that is very attractive. Plenty of peachy, juicy fruit aromas in a wine that is rather more fruit-forward than mineral, and yet on the palate the sweet juiciness is tempered by a lively acidity that gives it real zing.
(2024) Made from Listán Negro, this organic pink didn't completely grab me in the same way as the island's white wines. Don't get me wrong, it was good, combining attractive, small redcurrant dry fruitiness and some of the volcanic minerality one would hope for, but with only 1.5g/l of residual sugar and presumably picked early and with minimum skin contact, for me it felt just a little under-flavoured and possibly just a little bit lean.
(2024) From the first Malvasía Volcánica grapes planted specifically for the production of sparkling wines on the island, this is made using the traditional method spent 20 months on the lees in bottle. It has less than 1g/l of residual sugar. Fabulous waxy yellow apples on the nose, briny ozone and biscuity richness. The palate does not miss the sugar one little bit, having a fruit concentration and the driving force of the mineral acidity and a herbal streak. I thought this was different and delicious.
(2024) At first I thought this might have seen a little oak, but on researching discovered that it was extended lees ageing that has added to the lightly creamy, honeyed initial impression. Very vibrant fruit quality here too, a burst of orange as well as juicy peach. Good minerality to the acids, as well as the tang of citrus, and a little texture and weight to the mouthfeel too. Very impressive.
