Wine of the Week

Tamerán Malvasía Volcánica 2020

Region – DO Gran Canaria

Varieties – 100% Malvasía Volcánica

ABV - 11.5%

£35 - The Sourcing Table

Time was when an ex-footballer’s life didn't amount to much more than running the local boozer or a bit of media work. The modern footballer however, many of them multi-millionaires, has far loftier ambitions. Whether it be property development or their own clothes brand today's player has the money and the opportunity to think big.

One such example is ex-Man City and Spain midfielder, David Silva. While not yet retired Silva, now with Spanish side Real Sociedad, is 36 and no doubt would admit to being in the autumn of what has been a storied career. Time to decide where to invest that money and, let's face it, Man City don't pay peanuts! So why settle for buying the local bar when you can buy the local bodega?

Silva has invested heavily in the Gran Canaria bodega, Tamerán. The island itself doesn't have much tradition of fine wine making so this is indeed a ground-breaking venture and was also a factor in Silva calling up his friend Jonatan García of Suertes del Marqués fame. Anyone familiar with Tenerife's recent winemaking exploits will know that Suertes del Marqués are now widely-regarded as the neighboring island's premier bodega.

So, what of the wine? The Tamerán team is producing a range of still white wines using the region's largely indigenous varieties. The Malvasía Volcánica featured here is a cross between Marmajuelo and Malvasía Aromática. Aromatic it certainly is. Honey, quince & pear exude from the glass. Its aromatic profile reminds me somewhat of Madrid's local white variety Albillo Real. The palate however is markedly Atlantic. Sourdough salinity and crunchy green apple acidity positively zing around the mouth.

This fits with what Jonathan García tells me about Tamerán’s vineyards . South facing at around 700 metres of altitude they receive more hours of sunlight and higher temperatures than what he's used to in Suertes del Marqués’ north facing vineyards. This makes for a more aromatic wine in contrast to Suertes del Marqués’ more mineral, austere wines. In Tamerán, García likes to pick the grapes at between 11%-12% alcohol in order to maintain the acidity that he feels will allow these whites to age well over time. He goes on to say that he's intent on making the type of white wines that he likes to drink himself as a consumer rather than jumping on the bandwagon of the latest trend. Asked for a comparison between the 2020 that I tried and the more recent 2021 he feels the 2021 will show more integrated acidity rather than the 2020 which he says reminded him of a recently bottled Albariño. Across the board he's confident the 2021 vintage will be a more well-rounded, elegant style of wine.

So although David Silva may well soon be ending his footballing career, his link-up with Jonatan García at Tamerán promises to be as fruitful as any that he built in a Man City shirt with Agüero, Dzeko or Gabriel Jesús to name a few.