In some of the world’s most extreme wine-growing environments, unique and unforgettable wines can be found. I’m delighted to offer a first release of the 2024 vintage: with two saline, precise whites of Jable de Tao in Lanzarote and the energetic, and three racy reds of Bien de Altura in Gran Canaria. These two exceptional wineries in the Canary Islands are united by the exceptional winemaking talent of Carmelo Peña and the islands’ extraordinary volcanic terroir.
Order by midday Wednesday 30th September
The lovely, spirited Gran Canaria-born Carmelo Peña, whom I met last year on a visit to the islands, came to wine almost by chance, switching from chemistry to winemaking after discovering his passion for the subject. He studied oenology in Tarragona, before working with Niepoort in the Douro and Raúl Pérez in Bierzo, experiences that shaped his approach to wine. At Jable de Tao, whose first vintage was 2022, he works with ancient, ungrafted vines planted in volcanic ash, some more than 200 years old, while on Gran Canaria, he leads Bien de Altura, where vines cling to dramatic volcanic slopes on centuries-old terraces at 1,000+ metres above sea level.
Bien de Altura and Jable de Tao are two sides of the same coin: both of volcanic soils and extreme landscapes, small-scale, artisanal, and unlike anything else in Spain. Together, they showcase the Canary Islands as one of the most exciting, if unlikely, frontiers in Spanish wine today. 2024 was an exceptionally small vintage, though excellent in quality, with limited availability... so snap up your allocation to avoid missing out!
