Unusual terroir and local grape varieties contribute to the intriguing characters of wine from Tenerife, Sicily and Santorini VIÑÁTIGO VIJARIEGO BLANCO, TENERIFE, SPAIN 2017 (£19.79, ALL ABOUT WINE) The hottest wines around at the moment are volcanic wines. Excuse the pun, but it is apt: wines grown on the sides of volcanoes have burst to prominence in the past couple of years. There is even a rather good book on the subject, by John Szabo, _Volcanic Wines: Salt, Grit and Power_, that explores the phenomenon. As the title suggests, wines made from grapes grown in ash-enriched soils have uniting qualities: salty minerals, wildness, intriguing textures and depth. Certainly that’s been the case in the wines I’ve tried from the black soils of Tenerife, with the latest producer to capture my attention being Bodegas Viñátigo. There’s an intriguing smokiness, custard, apples and pears in their vijariego blanco, while their 2016 negramoll (£22.99, All About Wine) is all spicy wild berries. GAVALAS SANTORINI, SANTORINI, GREECE 2018 (£26, SOUTHERN WINE ROADS) Another factor in the current interest in volcanic wines is that so many use unusual local grape varieties and very old vines. This is especially true on volcanic islands such as Tenerife, Sicily and Santorini, where the wine cultures developed in relative isolation from the mainland, and where it’s still possible to find vines that pre-date the phylloxera plague that all but wiped out most of Europe’s vineyards in the late 19th century. On Santorini, that means assyrtiko vines, aged up to 500 years in some cases. This adds an extra level of intensity and balance to crystalline dry white wines, such as the intensely complex nervy, mineral Gaia Wild Ferment Assyrtiko 2018 (from £29, Loki Wine) and the fuller but still pure and racy, lemon grove-scented version from Gavalas. Continue reading...
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