Cruz Santa 2018

The 2018 Cruz Santa is pure Vijariego Negro, the same grape that's known as Sumoll in Cataluña, and is only 12% alcohol and has a perfumed and elegant nose. The vineyard has clay-rich soils and sits at 440 to 500 meters in altitude with vines that were planted 20 years ago and are pruned in a cordon royat method rather than the traditional cordón trenzado from the Orotava. The full clusters fermented in plastic bins with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in used 500-liter barrels for 10 months. This is very fresh, a grape that is very different if you pick it early, as is the case here. Most examples of this grape are harvested much later, and the profile is different. It has fine minerality and faint smokiness, and the palate is medium-bodied with great freshness and very fine tannins. But it has weight, it's not light. Only 1,200 bottles were filled in August 2019. - Luis Gutiérrez.