Tenerife Wine Paradise #2 - Suertes del Marques
SENSE OF PLACE
We’ve met with Jonatan, the mastermind behind the Suertes del Marques wines, in front of his imposant new winery behind the mesmerizing sea side in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Valle de la Orotava region. An appellation between the imposant mountain ranges covered with green floors, pine forests and a lot of sunshine. Right at the beginning of our visit, you can’t help noticing Jonatan’s deep rooted feeling and commitment to the island. He brought us way back in history and told us how the first wine drank is Australia came from Tenerife, and that the local government possess documents proving vineyards planted here already in the 15th century.
WINE WIZARD
The first own production of the the winery was relatively recently: in 2006. Jonathan left his carpentry work and building floors for hotels to bottle the excellence of the terroir. Before that, they used to sell their precious grapes to a cooperative. The ones that used to define Tenerife’s wine market for the better half of the 20th century. As every great entrepreneur, he took his courage (together with his father) to build their own brands and work out the potential of their vineyards, while still working with local growers from different altitudes (up to 300 meters difference in altitude) and microterroirs. In general, the soil is more sandy going up and having a greater clay content going down. Suertes del Marques is in the process of turning organic and gaining the certificate on their labels, so their contracted growers have a choice to make: either stay part of the success and go organic as well or leave the successful shadow of the brand.
The harvest could last up to two months as the vintner is working with more than 20 different indigenous varieties. The signature red variety: Listán Negro needs richer soils, so it usually does better on the Eastern side of the valley with more clay.
In the cellar, it’s always spontaneous fermentation, he insist that around 60g of sulphur is enough and good proportion for protecting and enhancing ageing potential.
CORDON TRENZADO
This one-of-a-kind training method probably originates from Malvasía Aromatíca, The variety needs longer pruning to produce, as it’s not productive in the first few bids, so vintners had the idea to just leave longer shoots which have been wooded with time. Other producers might have just copied this technique and the word got spread. Jonathan said that it could be a good system if you manage the pruning well.
“Maybe it’s not the best, but it’s our heritage that we have to protect”
cordon trenzado o capable of big yields
more difficult to work with, as machines are off the chart
after pruning you have to tie, so that also requires more handwork and time
WINES
We’ve started with three whites from ‘21 drinking the wines from fresh bottle on almost room temperatures. He praised the vintage with great deal of enthusiasm, but he also insisted that his wines start to show their best selves after 8-10 month in bottles. The general theme is spontaneous fermentation, always oak (also for whites and usually Stockinger from Austria), lees ageing and earlier harvest. Jonathan said something interesting that only highlighted the importance of terroir on this island. There could be around 10 different clones Listán Blanco (Palomino Finos) on the island and they mostly show themselves in the acidity. In Santiago del Teide, acidity is usually way less than in Orotava, although certain producers try to bounce it back up with some additionally added tartaric acid. But after two years, those wines usually drop in quality and oxidate.
While most winemakers tend to look for intense color, higher alcohol and more firm texture in reds, Jonathan took the opposite (probably more difficult) approach and he sells delicacy and sexiness with only supporting structural elements, singing terroir.
INTERESTING TAKEAWAYS
Reduction relates to the health of the vines. A wine needs less time before they can be truly enjoyed, if the vineyard is doing better and have more balance, because the yeast suffers less in the fermentation with healthier grape material. So the Suertes wines coming from the West need more time to let go of the reductiveness.
All red wines from Suertes had a very uplifting finish, ending with acidity instead of tannin dryness. This makes for fantastic food wines, because the wine doesn’t kill the food, doesn’t try to fight it, but rather the opposite happens.
On Tenerife, vintners can expect relatively low vintage-variations, stable yields. The main reason is that they don’t have hail or any frost, but they have very stable climate with mild variations year on and year out. Even the hot waves that tend to hit the Canary Islands, Valle de la Orotava stay almost unaffected.
Jonathan’s style is still evolving and getting more nuanced. Removing the red wines from the gross lees in the middle of the ageing to minimise brett and animal touch, getting more protective with sulphur, using less pumping, leaving the Listan Negro a little longer in the ripening phase.
5 WINES TO GET!
Trenzado
Listán Blanco, west part of the valley, growers on the West. Fermented and aged in bigger (at least 500l) old barrels with 10m lees ageing. Makes a lot of fun, refreshing with long acidity and lively, a bit creamy-leesy beginning then narrowing finish with a leaving vertical sensation and light iodine-salty shadows. True volcaninc character, a lot of inorganic notes.
Vidonia
It comes from the central and East part of the valley with more clay. The first impression is a less “volcanic character” with more volume, weight and rounder mouthfeel. However, the wine has more acidity (on papaer) than Trenzado. The finish is also more aromatic and kind of interestingly mysterious fruit garden.
Trenzado is also a true bargin! You can bring home this beauty easily under 20 Euros. And it is not a question of quality, the lower price is mainly driven by the source of the fruit (growers) and not by lesser work or lower quality barrels.
These wines also need a great deal of oxygen and some patience, especially in their youth. Jonathan assured us that his wines start to show their best faces after 8-10 months resting in the bottle.
“Village Level”
7 Fuentes
95% Listan Negro & 5% Castellana Negra (Tinta Cao), 70% vinified in concrete and 30% in used oak. The reason for the concrete was the micro-oxygenation and slow development during ageing as his concrete vats are not covered in the inside.
20 different vineyard rising up to 700 metres in altitude, all of them vinified separately. The perfume showed some parsnip, earthiness and ethereal kind of vibes, almost without any fruit in the beginning. Then a firework of red fruit, led by redcurrant, plums and sour cherries with an ever-stronger herb-touch. The wine is overall very inviting and quite charming, only 10% whole bunch creates a rather smooth tannin sensation.
Single Vineyard
Cruz Santa
100% Vijariego Negro / The nose emits flowery reduction with dark sensation and strong volcanic character. On the palate it’s extremely vibrant with a Mencía-like impression with tremendous delicacy and feminine sort of appearance. The soft winemaking (pigage by hands in open vats) creates an animating vibrancy and less masculine structure with extremely low alcohol (under 12%). Hence, this bottling might also be more approachable than the wines with Listán Negro dominance. One rarely encounters a red wine with such drink flow and elegance.
La Solana
100% Listan Negro / It has the same dancing elegance as a Caberner Franc from the Loire. A vibrancy that carries the wine and becomes a part of you. Juicy, on the nose dominate a delicate wild flower perfume and kind of smoky-peppery, rustic volcanic undertone. And the palate showed a thrilling meaty, almost chorizo-like profile as well.
“The name Solana is usually given to a vineyard that is hit first by the sunlight.”