Envínate Palo Blanco 2023

Oh, beautiful. Slightly reductive at first, but it blew off quickly. Very salty and chalky. Super sharp. Beautiful nose with an interesting fruit profile - almost unripe white fruits, peach, flowers. Structured, multilayered, and just a genuinely great wine.

Envínate's flagship white from Tenerife. 100% Listán Blanco from Santiago del Teide. Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate, 98+ points) notes the 2023 was "harvested earlier than ever" yet "feels more like it's from a cool climate" - volcanic, less reductive than previous years, fine-boned and sharp. Effervescent acidity (7.1 g/L, pH 3.05) and dry chalkiness that gives it salinity. Approachable now but should also age.

11.5% alcohol. 13,000 bottles produced. Bottled July 2024.

2023 Tenerife vintage: drier than 2022, earliest harvest everywhere except Taganana (which got over 500L of rain). In Santiago del Teide it was warmer, with high peaks that blocked the plants - they had to harvest very early, sort heavily, and do shorter macerations, producing 50% less. All Envínate Tenerife wines now sold under the Islas Canarias appellation (Benje removed from Ycoden-Daute-Isora DOP).

Very reductive at first - properly volcanic with yellow plums, bruised apples, raw nuts, honey, gunpowder, and rye bread. High acidity but lacks structure to balance it, with a slightly oily, salty texture. This could have been beautiful, but it lacks self-acceptance.

Give it time to decant properly, though, and everything changes. The reduction disappears, volcanic smoke becomes canvas instead of domination, oxidative notes open up. The texture becomes more beautiful - more pronounced salinity and chalkiness.

Still painfully young with that high acidity, but it transforms from unbalanced to compelling with effort. Don't drink now, do decant. Challenging wine, not simple.

Palo Blanco

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