2023 Envinate Linit Pardillo Blanco

‘Envínate’ (= “wine yourself!" in Spanish) is four friends from different parts of Spain who met in enology school and then banded together to make wines principally from Atlantic-influenced parts of Spain like Galicia and the Canary Islands. (Read Jason’s article about Envínate here.) But the Envínate amigos aren’t afraid to branch out into other parts of the Iberian peninsula - in this case Albacete, towards Valencia and Murcia in southeast Spain. 'Linit' is the Arabic name of pardillo, an old variety that’s indigenous to this part of Spain. The grapes come from a centenarian vines growing at 700 meters of elevation in clay and rocky soils. The Envínate team bought the vineyard in 2021; 2023 is the first vintage that they bottled. Spontaneous fermentation lasted about two weeks, followed by aging in a combination of concrete tanks and neutral 350-liter barrels. The wine was bottled without fining or filtering. 

The nose suggests pear, stone fruit, and stones, with a background herbaceousness. In the mouth, there’s fruit and opulent texture in a low-alcohol frame (12.5%) and reined in by salty and bitter citrus notes. It’s a generous but agile partner to ceviche, seafood paella, or vegetable tagine.