Palo Blanco Valle de la Orotava Listan Blanco

Tart and fresh. Saline with bright lemon acidity and good minerality.

Bottle variation? Vintage? Transport? This was just so different from the 18’ Palo Blanco, which was a masterclass in minerality. While still mineral, I felt the 19’ Palo Blanco was more about oxidation than anything else.

Drank over 2 days. Straight out the gates, the rather dark golden colour was already foreboding of the poorer difference. Drank like an oxidative-styled Chenin, which I’ve never really been keen on - light flinty reduction on the nose, bruised apples, salinity, medium-high acidity that has a crescendo quality to it, long finish. After a 6 hour slow oxidation, the reduction on the nose melded into a rather savoury olive-like note. Definitely more intriguing at this stage with notes of bruised apples, honey, hay, white florals, sea salt, musk, and a herbaceous touch. There’s an oiliness to the palate which juxtaposed nicely with the feisty acidity. Gained copious volatility and lost vitality the night after.

Fell below expectations after the brilliant 18’, but wasn’t a bad experience in itself. Will check on other bottles down the track.

In a testament to just how great these wines are and how good the wine making is, let me just tell you what my dumbass did to this wine by accident. I was in my fridge yesterday and saw I had left this bottle entirely full with a cork pulled for over a week. I thought back to when I would've opened it, and my jaw dropped. I had opened it two hours before meal time and then we changed the food plan so we changed wines but I forgot about already opening this wine. I left it in the door of the fridge so I missed it.

The wine is gloriously good… I was shocked that it wasn't completely oxidized. We drank it over the last two days and it was very delicious. Complex with citrus and white orchard fruits, leaning more citrus, zesty and salty brine, loads of minerality, dried wild florals, quite the wine here. Excellent med+ acidity, med/med+ body, med+ length.

Salty and oxidized with ripping acid and a lemon starburst thing going on.

GL was quick to call out how light the 18' Palo Blanco was compared to the 14' Dauvissat La Forest. True, but that's just unfair given how the 14' is possibly the best La Forest ever made. What can I say, it was the only two whites during the occassion, discounting the corked 13' Roulot Tillets. Regardless, I enjoyed this immensely. A master class in minerality. So much so that there's almost no fruit at all (just a touch of lemon). The 18' Palo Blanco is flinty, smokey, salty, iodiney, just whatever you can think of as "mineral" - Pure bottled rock energy!

not sure if it’s bottle variation or settling over time, but when i first had this 2016 , i was thoroughly underwhelmed. now? complete turnaround. fino sherry, thyme, lemon curd notes all wrapped up in luscious, soft, balanced packaging.

i expected much more from this bottle. i am huge fan of Envinate’s work, but though this was pleasant, it didn’t warrant its price tag.

frais et mûr, un peu fermé au debut

Sea breeze a bit of lemon zest. Viscous in texture and feel but light on its feet and very food friendly.

On a roll with this oxi-but-still-mineral theme. This bottle was a little sherry like. Very little fruit, almost sterile even, nutty, with a lovely salinity. Fell below expectations but drinkable.