Tacoronte-Acentejo

Tacoronte-Acentejo is the northern face of Tenerife, the one looking out over the Atlantic from La Laguna towards La Orotava: Tacoronte, El Sauzal, La Matanza, La Victoria, Santa Úrsula, Tegueste. It was the first appellation the Canaries ever had, back in 1992, and it’s the one hugging the sea most closely, with vines between 100 and 1,000 metres and a mist that creeps up the slopes most afternoons.

This is red wine country. Listán Negro is in charge, with Negramoll for company, and it was here that the fluid, fruity reds that put Tenerife wine on the map first came from. So when a northern winery turns out a serious white, Listán Blanco with some time on its lees, people sit up. And some of them, like Burgmann’s Olivia, are well worth the attention.