Welcome to the eigth release of the Vineyard Cellar Select Club! July is vacation season here in Colorado. Weather you take a stay-cation and explore Denver, pop up to the mountains for a few days or head abroad on an adventure there are a lot of amazing places to explore. We're taking the spirit of exploration and summer vacations to heart this year and taking you on a wine-cation to one of the most spectacular islands on Earth: Tenerife.

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July Selections 

2023 Envinate Palo Blanco   &   2022 Envinate Vidueño de Santiago del Teide  

Tenerife is one of the islands that make up the Canary Islands, owned by Spain but located 62 miles off the coast of Morocco. Here, winemaking goes back centuries as these islands were a pit stop for may cross-ocean voyages. Each island has its own unique character (Lanzarote looks like the moon, for example) but Tenerife, the main Island of the chain, is reminiscent of Jurassic Park and it doesn't take too many glasses of wine to start picturing a T-Rex or Jeff Goldblum emerging from a steep, forested volcanic hill side. The Atlantic ocean influences the poly-cultural farming here, where a myriad of small growers farm both vines, fruits and vegetables on the same plots. Not only are the climatic, geological and geographic conditions unlike most other wine growing regions, there are some incredibly unique and different viticultural practices in play here as well. One example is Cordon Trenzado, a training method that actually weaves the canes and arms of vines together to form rope-like weaves that run the length of vineyards, often times down slopes so steep they would not be approved for commercial farming in the States. Aside from producing truly world-class wines that truly capture a sense of place, the Canaries are a fantastic vacation destination.

Envinate is a relatively new wine project, founded in late 2000s by a group of four friends who met at winemaking school in Alicante. They were fascinated by the Atlantic-influenced vineyards of Spain, both on the islands as well as in a few coastal regions of the mainland. They have made a name for themselves, and in the US if a wine consumer can name a winery from the Canaries it is most likely Envinate. First up this month is the 2023 Palo Blanco "is sourced from a 1.5ha vineyard of centenarian cordon trenzado (braided vines) Listan Blanco at 600m elevation, and is named for the area where it’s planted. The grapes are hand-harvested, pressed full cluster into large concrete tank off the skins and fermented without malolactic occurring, then raised in two Friulian 2500L oval foudres for 10 months. Bottling is without fining or filtration." This is a very limited production wine with just miniscule amounts brought into the states each year. Marked by intense saline minerality and chalky texture, this can be enjoyed in its youth, decanting recommended, or over the next 10 to 20 years. The 2022Vidueño de Santiago del Teide "is sourced from a tiny 0.15ha parcel of old-vine, untrained pie franc Listan Blanco and Listan Prieto. This co-planted parcel is hand-harvested, destemmed and macerated for 15 days in an open tub, then transferred to three old 228L French barriques to age for 8 months on fine lees without battonage or added SO2. Bottling is without fining, filtration or any added SO2. Due to its high elevation, this wine offers much less Atlantic character than their Taganan or Valle de La Orotava cuvées."  High toned, with notes of alpine strawberries, dried strawberry skins, smoke and ashy earth come together fantastically in this vivacious, fresh and crunchy red that is perfect for summer.