Winemaker Notes
Roberto Santana and Jonatan Garcia refer to their 7 Fuentes as a village wine. The name is a reference to the seven sites in the DO of Valle de la Orotava, where they source the grapes for this cuvee. With a high percentage of old vines, it is a tremendous value and an exceptional introduction to the volcanic terroir found on the slopes of the very active, Teide. Mostly comprised of Listan Negro with a small amount of Tintilla, it is entirely fermented in small stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast and a short, gentle maceration. About 20% of the cuvee is aged in neutral 500L French oak demi-muids with the remainder resting in concrete.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 7 Fuentes will give you an idea of how the vintage behaved at Suertes del Marqués. They did multiple fermentations, most in concrete but some in stainless steel without temperature control—as the grapes were cooled down—and with indigenous yeasts. They used around 10% full clusters. Some 60% of the volume matured in concrete for nine months, while the rest was in used 500-liter oak barrels and one new 4,500-liter oak foudre. This has even less color than the 2015, and feels sharp, a little raw, very volcanic and peppery, and it feels like there's one extra step in complexity and depth here. The palate is really nice, electric and, curiously enough, seems sharp, but at the same time, it has volume. This could very well be my favorite vintage of 7 Fuentes to date.
The Canary Islands are the southernmost Northern Hemisphere wine region. Because of such a dry climate, grape vines grown on the island are coiled in small craters in the volcanic soil which shelter them from the strong, sun-baked winds. This is the perfect climate for Listan Negro, which is vinified in several styles, from delicate, food-friendly rosés to light and fruity reds made by carbonic maceration (the technique used to make Beaujolais Nouveau), to traditionally-vinified reds aged in oak.
Set of islands off the coast of Morocco and south of Madeira that host a wide range of indigenous and unique grape varieties. Soils are volcanic and recent subsidies from the local government has led to a revival of the islands’ old vines.
SWS915173_2016 Item# 434746