Region: Tenerife Grapes: Palomino First Glance: Textural, Racy, Salty, Nutty
The Wine: Benje blanco hails from high altitude vineyards, over 1000m absl, on the north western corner of Tenerife, right on the shoulder of the dominating Teide volcano. This area usually sits above the cloud cover and is one of the driest parts of north side of Tenerife. Vines here all date from around 1910 when the area was re-planted after an eruption cleared the land. Straight Listan Blanco (aka Palomino) that is dry grown and picked in August. Fermented in concrete tanks before half the wine is transferred to used oak while the other half remains in concrete. About 50% of the 2021 develops a slight layer of flor during elevage, removing some of the glyceric texture that Palomino can have in warmer zones and exposing more of the wines acid drive and saline minerality.
