A spectacular mixed case of 'volcanic' wines containing either 1 or 2 bottles of each of the following wines:

Whites

Viñatigo Listan Blanco, Tenerife, Spain 2020 - £22.95
If you have been tempted to try a wine from the Canary islands, but were worried it might be a bit “too much”, then give this one a try. It’s made from Listan Blanco (better-known as Palomino in mainland Spain) and has just a light touch of volcanic minerality, but not enough to scare the horses. With many of these Atlantic island wines, it feels as if the fruit and the terroir are in a tussle for supremacy and more often than not the terroir wins, whereas here it feels more like a split decision. There is grapefruit and kumquat, but there is salt and broken rocks too. As its volcanic character is quite mild, please be aware that it’s a bit of a gateway drink that could lead to stronger proclivities. 12.5% alc. Drink now-2025.

Gaia 'Wild Ferment' Assyrtiko, Santorini, Greece 2022 - £39.00
We could write paragraphs about why the Assyrtiko grape deserves to be recognised as a ‘noble’ grape variety alongside the likes of Chardonnay and Riesling, but the market has a shorthand way of indicating that the word is already spreading by the fact that it has gone up from €0.60 per kilo to €3.00 per kilo in the last 2 years alone. Gaia’s ‘Wild Ferment’ is one of the finest expressions that we know, a wine with the most extraordinary aromas, thanks to the fact that Gaia source grapes for this cuvée from the upland vineyard of Pyrgos, considered to produce the most aromatic Assyrtiko on Santorini and the fact that each barrel undergoes a wild ferment, meaning that every barrel is slightly different depending on the particular yeast strain that initiates the fermentation, not to mention the fact that the wine is aged in stainless steel, French oak, American oak (some new, some used) and acacia barrels. It’s an astonishingly complex, intense, rich, bone dry and refined white wine that perfectly balances varietal expression with winemaking influence and the salty lemon identity of Assyrtiko from Santorini really shines through. 13.5% alc. Drink now-2027.

Etna Bianco, Tenuta delle Terre Nere, Sicily, Italy 2021 - £19.50
This delectable white from the northern slopes of Mount Etna gently evokes its volcanic origins without taking you on the white-knuckle ride that some more dramatic examples dare to. It is bright and chic, with subtle, smoky, crumbled stone notes set beautifully against pithy citrus fruits, mandarin, grapefruit, wild flowers and blanched almonds. It has the cool precision of a maritime wine with its flavours coaxed along by a refreshingly tangy acidity, a chalky mineral mouthfeel and a lovely salted nuttiness on the finish. It is a blend of Carricante (60%) with the other 40% made up from indigenous Catarratto, Inzolia, Grecanico and Minnella grapes from 20-60 year old vines grown at 600-900 metres. 12.5% alc. Drink now – 2025.

Reds

Etna Rosso, Le Vigne di Eli, Sicily, Italy 2019 - £27.50
“A wine that strums my heartstrings.” - Tamlyn Currin for JancisRobinson.com
This is a terrific wine from Marco de Grazia of Tenuta delle Terre Nere, who, in 2006, was offered two small parcels on Mount Etna in the crus of Feudo di Mezzo and Moganazzi, which were too small to blend into Terre Nerre’s cuvees, and so this project was born, named after his daughter, Eli, whose crayon drawings have adorned the labels ever since, changing each year as she grows up. It’s has the gorgeous aromas that we look for in proper Etna Rosso, with that telltale note of peach fuzz and apricot skin, as well as dried cherries and whetstone, plumped up on the palate by sweeter flavours of pomegranate and wild strawberry. 13% alc. 12 months on 20% new oak. Drink now-2027.

Envinate 'Benje' Red, Tenerife, Spain 2020 - £27.50
Only a few bottles of this graceful beauty have made it to the UK and we put our hands up for as much as we could have. As much as we could have turned out to be 48 bottles, so it's not going to stretch very far, but this is one of the finest reds we have tasted from Tenerife. It's incredibly fine, with a real sense of the rocky, volcanic, Atlantic soil, but not in such a way that it smothers the fruit, which is bright and succulent. It's a blend of 98% Listan Prieto and 2% Tintilla from 70 to 120 year-old vines sitting at 1,100 metres altitude on the cliffs of northwestern Tenerife and it has a wonderful freshness and purity and, despite being light-bodied, a fascinating scope of flavours both fruity and mineral. It should appeal to anyone who loves Loire reds, cool climate Pinot Noir, Etna Rosso... that kind of thing. Pale and haunting and very evocative. 12.5% alc. Drink now-2024.

Tenuta Castellaro, Nero Ossidiana, Lipari Island, Italy 2017 - £29.95
I don’t know what it is about ‘island wines’, but we can’t seem to get enough of them at the moment. Maybe it’s the individuality that comes from working with indigenous grape varieties or perhaps it’s the winemaking traditions that are the product of working within a geographical echo chamber for centuries, but we love them and this one is an absolute stunner. It comes Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands off the northern coast of Sicily and is a blend of the indigenous Corinto grape (90%) and the more familiar southern workhorse, Nero d’Avola (10%), and has a silky, mouthwatering quality that sets it apart from a lot of southern Italian reds, which can often get bogged down under the weight of their own fruit. It’s aromatically complex and rich in fruit, but its physique is lissome and lithe and it comes in at a pleasing 13% alcohol. If you like Etna Rosso, then you should definitely make some space in your shopping basket for a few bottles of this too. It’s darker in colour and in its fruit profile, but the volcanic soil makes its presence felt in the way the cool minerality reflects the fleshy cherry and plum fruit and the ageing in chestnut barrels just adds a subtle yet delectable hint of toasted almonds and sandalwood. Not to be missed! 13% alc. Drink now-2025.