Envinate Benje Listan Prieto 2023
Envínate Benje is a red wine produced by the winery Envínate in Taganana (Tenerife). D.O. Ycoden Daute Isora.
This project was created in 2005 by four youngsters who decided to study oenology. They decided to found Envínate to produce wine in the different areas where they come from: Ribeira Sacra, the Canary Islands and Extremadura. Always with winegrower's passion, respecting the landscape and little intervention in the winemaking process, like craftsmen.
Their aim is to create authentic wines that express the terroir of each plot and all the potential of the variety. To do so, they avoid using chemical products, herbicides or pesticides, and all the processes in the winery are carried out with minimum intervention.
Envínate is part of this new generation of young viticulture oenologists who are giving a breath of fresh air to the Spanish wine scene. Envínate Benje is a wine made from Listán Prieto and Tintilla from different old vineyards aged between 70 and 120 years old, located at 1,000 metres of altitude, planted on volcanic soils.
They are manually harvested and placed in 16-kg boxes, with grape selection in the vineyard. When they arrive at the winery, each plot is vinified separately. The grapes, without destemming, macerate in cold before they ferment with native yeasts in different kinds of deposits (cement, open vats, French oak barrels). After fermenting in French oak barrels, this wine is aged for around 8 months. It is bottled without adding SO2, without clarifying or filtering.
Benje Tinto comes from high-elevation bush vines grown on the volcanic slopes of Santiago del Teide in western Tenerife. The 2023 is mostly Listán Prieto (an old local variety also known as País) with a bit of Tintilla. Fruit is hand-harvested, partially whole bunch fermented with native yeasts, and aged in neutral oak. No fining, no filtration, no additions.
The profile’s lifted and aromatic — red cherry, pomegranate, dried herbs and volcanic dust. There’s a gentle stemmy grip, bright natural acidity, and a savoury edge that keeps it from feeling too fruity. The palate is light but structured, with a mineral spine and plenty of tension. It's not rustic, but it’s not polished either — and that’s the point.
