2017 Benje

A super peppery edge to the fragrant and detailed aromatics on the nose here, this has a super fine, dried red-berry nose and plenty of spicy allure. The palate has striking elegance and focus. Very, very fine tannins cradle red-berry flavors and hold silky and gentle on the finish. Wow! Drink now.

The red varietal Listán Prieto (a.k.a. País, Criolla Chica or Mission) is the 2017 Benje Tinto, which now has a small percentage of co-fermented Listán Negro and Listán Blanco, what they call Vidueño locally. Some 10% of the whole volume they produced was used to fill the 20,000 bottles they produced in this lower-yielding vintage, as they have grown tremendously in this southern zone of the Tenerife Island. They might grow a bit in the future, as they keep growing the surface of vines they control in the region. This is the Listán Prieto that most resembles the character of the País bottlings they do in Chile. It's a wild and characterful, light and perfumed red, with certain rusticity but without any harsh tannins of some of the Chilean wines; it's more elegant and finer, perhaps because they do a soft vinification. A bargain for the quality it delivers. A wine of pleasure.