2017 Taganan Blanco

The blended white from the northwest of Tenerife, the 2017 Táganan Blanco is a surprisingly fresh, only a tad riper than the 2016 but only in the nose. It has a dry and textured palate with a chalky sensation; I associate the dryness with these volcanic soils. Some 25% to 30% fermented with skin (no more than eight days), but the golden color is more because some of the grapes, Gual, Forastera and Verdello, have a deeper color when they are harvested at the same time as the other white grapes. It was super open when I tasted it—sometimes these wines from Taganana are a little closed, even reduced, but they now have better facilities with their own winery and they are able to work with more precision. The palate is strict and serious as ever, with that clean bitterness and saltiness in the finish that makes it very tasty and moreish. One-quarter of the volume matured in 600-liter barrels and the rest in 228-liter barriques where it was kept for eight months. Tastiness at its purest. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2018.