Bodegas Los Bermejos 2023 Diego Seco (Canary Islands, Lanzarote)

This is a dry, mouth-watering wine with a complex minerality. It offers a complex, medium-weight mouthfeel but finishes with a refreshing lick of acidity. The wine is perfect for pairing with the fruits of the sea, but expands to pair well with light-medium weight dishes. Imagine sipping it at a café table on Lanzarote, the island of its origin, as you gaze out at the beauty of the Atlantic and the beach-goers enjoying it.

The vineyards on Lanzarote are like none most of us have ever seen. Imagine a bowl-shaped pit about 20 feet across, grape vine at the bottom, and a stone wall covering half of the bowl's rim on the windward side to protect the vine from the winds. Looking out over the vineyard looks like the pock-marked surface of the moon, only the soil is black!

Never heard of the Diego grape? Not surprising, if not, as it is quite rare. Even under its more common name (Vigiriega), it is nearly exclusive to the Canary islands and the Southern portions of Spain. One of the rare white wines that is capable of aging. Only 833 cases produced. Drink now through 2028+ (but if I were you, I'd get a corkscrew right now!)

The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles west of Morocco. Rising from the ocean 11 million years ago, today they are the southernmost of the communities of Spain, and produce wines in a number of demarcated areas. Six of the islands produce wine, which may be surprising, as they are hot and humid with high winds and black volcanic soils - not exactly ideal conditions for wine grapes. But the islands are home to some of the oldest vines in all of Europe. And their wines are exciting, fairly recently exploding onto the international wine scene.

One of the features of Canary Island vines is that they were never infected by Phylloxera so their average age can be well over 100 years old, with the low yields and great complexity one can obtain in no other way.

The island of Lanzarote saw a month of volcanic activity in the 1700's, covering the island in a topsoil of volcanic ash. Traditionally an agricultural island, this change in soil type favored grape vines, which can thrive in poor soils. So while the wines of Tenerife may be the best known, those from Lanzarote are gaining notice for their unique mineral-driven characteristics.