A Tropical Island Treat: Bodegas los Bermejos' Rosado
“What’s your desert island wine?”
We get that question all the time.
Today we have an answer that happens to be a wine from a desert island.
The island in question is Lanzarote, and the wine is a succulent rosé with all the freshness you’d need if stuck on your own little isle.
There's also so much depth you’ll probably want to bring some home after your rescue.
Lanzarote is part of the Canary Island chain, a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic ocean just a stone’s throw from Africa. While the islands may be tropical, their unique, mineral-rich soils and cooling oceanic trade winds harmonize with that heat to produce exquisitely balanced fruit.
Since establishing his small, low intervention winery, Bodegas Los Bermejos, in 2001, Ignacio Valdera has become the master interpreter of his island’s magnificent and challenging terroir.
His whole range of still and sparkling wines is outstanding, but his rosado is the crown jewel.
This may seem counterintuitive. We often think of rosé as a simple pleasure, and this one is pleasurable, as fresh and lively as any from Provence. But it’s also as layered, complex and exotic as a great Northern Rhône, combining fruit, sun and spice with an inexhaustible core of mineral energy.
Making a wine of such character and poise on Lanzarote is no easy task.
The work is painstaking, rigorous and dangerous.
The driest and most arid of the Canaries, Lanzarote withstood a period of intense volcanic activity in the eighteenth century which covered it with ash and pumice several meters thick. To reach the fertile topsoil below, farmers dig craters in which to plant individual vines.
Then they build semicircular stone walls around each plant as protection from the powerful winds. Yields are incredibly low.
The old adage about getting blood from a stone has never been more apt. But the effort is undeniably worth it. Ignacio’s rosado is a unique wine and one of the most sought after rosés on our shelves every vintage.
And while delightfully refreshing now, with its ample acidity and mineral structure, this wine becomes even more interesting with age. We suggest snapping up several bottles today, while supplies last, for enjoying throughout the summer, fall and beyond.
