2018 Suertes del Marques El Esquilon

Suertes is located on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands at the northern end in the Valle de La Orotova. The family have been farming vines for over 40 years but Suertes del Marques began in 2006. Owner Jonatan Garcia Lima runs the property and is part of a growing breed of intensely passionate young Spanish producers capitalising on the heritage vines and the volcanic soils to speak through his eloquent, mineral driven wines. Recently he has started working with talented young winemaker Luis Seabra. The estate has some incredibly old, low-yielding vines that produces wines with freshness, balance, purity of fruit, minerality and authentic terroir character.

Other Reviews....
The single-vineyard 2018 El Esquilón goes back to the style of the 2016, but here there's a more thorough ripeness while the acidity levels were maintained; the fruit was harvested ripe, not just early. The north-facing El Esquilón plot is planted with centenary Listán Negro and is located at an altitude of 450 to 550 meters. It fermented with full clusters in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, and the bunches were foot trodden, followed by a maceration of 27 days. It matured in used 500-liter oak barrels for 12 months. This coms from sandier soils that tend to give more elegant wines, but this year La Solana was an over-performer. It has the volcanic/pumice stone character that to me cries volcanic soils. It has a little more structure and depth, with abundant but fine tannins and all that is needed to develop nicely in bottle. This is one of the best pure Listán Negros. 4,100 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2019. Drink 2020 - 2027.
94+ points
Luis Gutiérrez - Wine Advocate (Sep 2020)