Viñátigo

  • Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Viñátigo

Juan Jesus is a proud native of Tenerife and the fourth generation of growers in the island. During the twenty-five years that he’s overseen Bodegas Viñátigo, he has considerably increased its holdings, planting varieties that he and his team recuperated. During these years he has also juggled the classes he teaches as a professor of viticulture and enology at the Ciclo Superior de Vitivinicultura. Juan Jesus and his wife Elena Batista – who has helped along the way, dealing in all aspects of production, from the vineyard to the cellar – have worked closely with Fernando Zamora from the famous Rovira I Virgili Universtiy in Tarragona, to study, catalog, preserve, and vinify imperiled indigenous grape varieties.

Varieties such as Baboso Negro and Vijariego Negro are known to us now by these names mainly because of the work of this duo who identified more than eighty different varieties in the Canary Islands. They recovered those varieties from the island of El Pinar and have since propagated them in Tenerife.

Now however, the new generation slowly started taking over, and his son Jorge Mendez, who studied viticulture in Madrid is in charge of the farming. While the work in the vineyard and winery has always been sustainable, now with Jorge all of Viñátigo’s holdings are farmed organically, and many are being treated biodynamically. Another addition to the team has been Juan Jesus’ daughter, Celia Mendez, who is in charge of marketing and other business aspects such as educational work and sales. The family works collaboratively, constantly exchanging ideas and viewpoints.

The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented using indigenous yeasts. Grapes go through two triages, first in the fields and then again in the winery. Minimal sulfur is used in the winery and no synthetic materials are used in the winemaking.

Harvest Season at Viñatigo
Image Producer PRODUCT Description Country / Region

DB0705-21
Organic
Viñátigo Listán Blanco
2021
Listán Blanco
100% Listán Blanco (aka Palomino Fino) from ungrafted, pergola-trained vines that are around 100-years-old on average. Vinification and...
Spain

DB1737-21
Organic
Viñátigo Marmajuelo
2021
Marmajuelo
100% Marmajuelo, fermented and aged on the lees in stainless steel. Owner, Juan Jesus actually discovered this little known variety on the...
Spain

DB1760-22
Organic
Viñátigo Ensamblaje Blanco
2022
Gual
A blend of Gual, Marmajuelo, Vijariego Blanco, and Malvasía Aromática from the best vines of Juan's ungrafted pre-phylloxera vineyards,...
Spain

DB0101-21
Organic
Viñátigo Gual
2021
Gual
100% Gual from Finca San Juan Degollado and Finca Mazapé. Ungrafted grapevines. Gual was the first of the near-extinct native varieties...
Spain

DB7855-20
Organic
Viñátigo Vijariego Blanco
2020
Vijariego Blanco
One hundred per cent Vijariego Blanco from ungrafted grapevines. Vijariego Blanco is the most acidic variety from the Canary Islands. It...
Spain

DB1615-22
Organic
Viñátigo Listán Negro Rosado
2022
Listán Negro
100% Hand-Harvested Listán Negro. 25% saignée rosé from the classic Listán Negro vinification, the rest is vinified as a traditional Rosé,...
Spain

DB0096-21
Organic
Viñátigo Listán Negro
2021
Listán Negro
100% Listán Negro from ungrafted grapevines of more than 100 years old. Grown between 300 and 700 meters above sea level, in the northwest...
Spain

DB1773-21
Organic
Viñátigo Vijariego Negro
2021
100% Vijariego Negro (the red variant of the more widely-planted white grape Viajriego Blanco) vinified in a mix of new and used French oak... Spain

DB7853-19
Organic
Viñátigo Negramoll
2019
Negramoll
100% Negramoll, macerated at low temperature before fermentation; aged six months in French oak barrels. This grape is universally...
Spain