“I’m going to restrain my enthusiasm here and avoid making the outrageous claim that this is the single greatest value in the world of wine right now, but I do feel quite confident that it’s in the top 10 best white wines for the money anywhere. Drinking wines like this feels like discovering buried treasure, and such bottles are certainly a just reward for the curious wine drinker who has to kiss a few frogs before discovering vinous royalty.” - Alder Yarrow for JancisRobinson.com

The 2012 vintage of Trenzado was the very first wine we bought when we set up Vin Cognito at the end of 2014. We took a punt on 120 bottles. Some might say it was a bold opening move for a new company, but we bought it because we loved it and we hoped we could communicate that enthusiasm to all the brave souls who had agreed to climb aboard our bandwagon. We have followed every vintage since then and they have all been great, but this vintage, the 2021, is something else altogether. It’s the wine that we suspected had always been waiting in the wings, the understudy-turned-diva, and now, with her voice fully warmed up, she is ready to sing.

What’s the fuss all about? Well, imagine how a great Meursault from someone like Jean-Marc Roulot would taste if the vines were planted on the side of a volcano in the Atlantic Ocean, as these are. The aromas are simply mesmerising. So much so that I challenge you not to spend at least five minutes swirling it under your nose before even putting it to your lips. It’s less raucous than previous vintages, it’s more finessed, but still with satisfying richness of flavour and great length. It has the ‘struck flint’ aromas of a white Burgundy, but there’s also a sense of the wild, untamed Atlantic and the brooding presence of Tenerife’s mighty volcano, El Teide, so when you put it all together, you get a thrilling, sea-sprayed shipwreck of yuzu, grapefruit, gunpowder, lemons, pumice, oyster shells and honeysuckle. It shouldn’t work, but it really, really does. The matchstick aromas linger like wispy gunsmoke after a naval skirmish, but they give space for the other flavours to shine too, allowing for a wonderful combination of sweet citrus fruit, saline freshness and granitic minerality.

We love this style of white wine, informed by its place of origin. It tastes like a Batard-Montrachet made by pirates. It’s made almost entirely from Listan Blanco (95%), but with a dash of Torrontes. 12.5% alc. Drink now-2029.

Organic (non-certified)
Vegan-friendly


Press reviews:

JancisRobinson.com (Alder Yarrow): “Palest gold. Smells of struck match (or is that brimstone?) citrus pith and sea air. Wonderfully tangy and very salty lemon-peel and grapefruit flavours are electric with fantastic acidity and stony minerality. A completely mouth-watering wine that all but demands another gulp. VGV. 12.7% alc. Drink now-2030.” 18 points

The Wine Advocate: “The white 2021 Trenzado comes from eight different vineyards in the Orotava Valley, mostly from the village of Los Realejos where the basalt soils are quite shallow. It fermented in oak foudres of different sizes and 500-litre oak barrels, where it matured for 11 months. It has 12.9% alcohol with a low pH (3.04) and high acidity (6.35 grams) for the variety. The wine has settled in bottle, where it seems to gain weight. The year was a little cooler, and the wine is fresher. It has notes of toasted sesame seeds. This should age nicely in bottle.” 94 points

Tenerife
Tenerife, situated off the north African coast, is the largest of the Canary Islands and is dominated by the massive volcano, El Teide, the highest point in Spain and one of the world’s largest volcanic structures at 12,000 feet above sea level (24,000 feet above the ocean floor!). It protects the south of the island from Atlantic squalls, but it’s on the cooler, northern part of the island, in the green valley of La Orotava, that Suertes del Marques is based. Their vineyards climb the lower slopes of El Teide, between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above sea level, and the vines are planted on their original rootstock, as phylloxera never reached Tenerife, so some of their vines are nearly 150 years old. The unusual training system of braiding the vines, known as el cordon trenzado, gives its name to the wine.

Winemaking
Winemaker, Jonatan Garcia, pursues a strictly hands-off philosophy, flirting with natural wine ideologies and following some biodynamic practices, without going full ‘moon child’. Minimal sulphur dioxide is used (those matchstick aromas come from the soil), fermentations are initiated by wild yeasts, and the wine is never filtered or fined. Most of the grapes are fermented in stainless steel vats, but a smaller portion are fermented with their skins in concrete tanks. The wine is then aged for 8 months in concrete and large, old, French oak casks. The naturally low yields from those gnarly old vines confer great intensity of flavour while still retaining acidity and freshness, so the wines have terrific vibrancy and energy.

Customer comments (including previous vintage):

“Wow! That sassy smokiness and brisk salinity work so well – seriously impressive.” - Mr. T.P.

“I think it's delicious. Great food wine - almonds, or bbq fish... Good to try something different!” - Mr H.A.

“Tried the Trenzado last night and have to say it wasn’t really for me.” - Mr B.O. [you can’t win ‘em all!]

”It’s absolutely terrific!” - Mr. P.C.