Suertes del Marqués Valle de la Orotava 'Vidonia' 2022

Suertes del Marqués has been leading Tenerife's vinous renaissance for the past two decades.

Francisco García Lima had been growing and selling most of his crop to local domaines since 1986 before he started producing wine commercially himself in 2006. He introduced organic, low-interventionist philosophies and his son Jonatan took over the estate in 2016. Suertes del Marqués has now become ground zero for a new wave of Tenerife fine wine; indeed, theirs is some of the most thrilling wine made in Spain today.

Jonatan farms 9ha of indigenous old-vine varieties – some more than 200 years old – on volcanic clay and sand soils in the steep Orotova Valley, an appellation where cloud cover moderates temperatures by some 10°C compared to the rest of the island. Trained with a rare technique called cordón trenzado, the long vine canes are painstakingly tied back to their sinewy roots after pruning, then propped off the floor with poles.

Production is split between 25% white wine made from Listán Blanco (Palomino) – which, unlike that grown in Sherry country, here marries vibrant citrus fruit with mouth-watering acidity and a signature smokiness – and 75% red wine made from Listán Negro and Tintilla (Garnacha). Fresh and peppery with round, supple tannins, they resonate with a volcanic mineral backbone.