2020 Benje Blanco
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Tasting notes
An unworldly nose, where the first impression is one of reduction, but then it comes around with hot stones, minerals, apricots, honeydew melon, metallic notes and spices, too. Pretty challenging on the palate, with high acidity, but the creamy mouth-feel and a slight chewy structure make it a full-bodied, palatable white that calls you back for more. Mouthwatering finish. Listan blanco. 30% is aged under flor. Drink now.
Critic scores
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Jancis Robinson MW
James Suckling
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The white 2020 Benje Blanco Cuvée Viticole was, unlike the 2017 and 2018, not from the Las Arenas plot, given the low yields of 2019 (when they didn't do this custom cuvée) and 2020. Like some of their wines, this is a custom bottling for the Viticole wine club in the US. This comes from different plots in the Valle de Arriba in Santiago del Teide where the soils are covered in volcanic ash. Each plot fermented separately in concrete with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in a 6,300-liter concrete vat, where it underwent malolactic fermentation. Even so, the wine has an incredibly low pH of 3.02. This is very spicy with pungent notes of cloves and white pepper. It's vibrant and has pungent flavors. From tank, 800 bottles were filled unfiltered, unfined and without any added sulfur.