From one of Spain's most iconic producers, the newest thing is an ancient varietal – farmed and made with as much care and detail as ever.

Envinate is terruño first, region second.

If you’re catching up: Envínate is a project by four iconically talented winemaking friends – Roberto Santana, Alfonso Torrente, Laura Ramos and José Martinez – founded to explore the depth of some of Spain’s most distinctive (but otherwise forgotten) vineyards. The bulk of what we see is from the Canary Islands’ Tenerife, and Galicia’s Ribeira Sacra; with a much smaller set of (previously, just two) cuvées from Castilla-La Mancha.

For many years we’ve known (and loved) their work in Castilla-La Mancha's tiny Almansa appellation through the lens of ‘Albahra’ – their most entry-level wine across all regions, a dependably delicious-with-depth red blend with a distinctive yellow label. And, the ‘Chingao’ cuvée from Albahra’s oldest parcel.

One of the Albahra vineyard sites in Castilla-La Mancha 📷 via @envinatewine

But, their work there is growing, and ‘Linit’ marks the first new cuvée release from Envinate in some time. And, like most of their work, it’s a rarity: made from Pardillo, an ancient grape virtually unknown outside of the local area.

PARDILLO:

○ Indigenous to La Mancha (Virtually exclusive to La Mancha)
○ ~3500 ha production
○ Structured with high alcohol
○ Non-aromatic
○ Thin skinned, medium size berries
○ Late budding, late ripening

The vineyard site has centenarian vines, grown in chalk and clay soils well-covered in pebbles at 700m elevation. Direct press juice is fermented in concrete for about two weeks, then split between concrete and neutral barrels for 8 months of élevage. No fining, no filtration, and minimal SO2.

The final wine feels so Mediterranean, in both olive and salt character; with sneaky texture matching its equally mineral, windswept quality. In a surprising way, this southern Spanish white also reminds us of the powerful, brisk Assyrtiko bottlings from Hatzidakis.

Truly, another hit – we're reminded of another southern Spain project we've written about recently (Stratum), a sign that the area's sea level of quality is ramping up significantly. And, as the first Blanco bottling from Envínate's work in Castilla-La Mancha, we really can't wait to see more.