Envinate 2020 Santa la Ursula Tenerife Red 750ml

There is a new red from the north of Tenerife, the 2020 La Santa de Úrsula, a field blend of Negramoll and Listán Negro trained in a parral bajo way (similar to a gobelet). It's produced with grapes from the village of Santa Úrsula in the zone known as Tacoronte-Acentejo, but it's sold without appellation of origin. They had the chance to start working with three centenary plots from La Corujera, one at 350 meters above sea level and the other two at 600 meters. The area is something like Taganana but further away from the sea and with more rain, more like La Orotava. So, the wines are something in between, perhaps closer to the ones from Taganana, a little wild, herbal and floral, but Tacoronte-Acentejo has red soils. 2020 was very dry (half of the normal rain), and they started harvesting extremely early, the 11th of August. The wine is approximately 50% Listán Negro, 48% Negramoll and 2% white Listán Blanco fermented differently by plot with some full clusters (50% to 75%) in plastic bins and concrete vats, with 20% of the wine in carbonic maceration, which was the tradition in Tacoronte-Acentejo. This is a zone with high potential and with enough vineyards, unlike in Taganana. The wine matured in neutral 228-liter oak barrels for eight months. This is a superb debut. 

Score: 95 points -- Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate, 2022