Viña Norte Maceración Carbónica is a multiple-award winning carbonic maceration wine from the Tacoronte Acentejo DO in the far north of Tenerife. It was voted best young wine in Spain in 2012 by the Spanish Association of wine writers and has won a whole series of other awards.
Carbonic maceration is the winemaking technique used to make Beaujolais Nouveau wines. Red wine grapes are left in a high carbon dioxide atmosphere (mimicking the conditions in a cool storage cellar) for several days or weeks. They start to ferment inside the skins and absorb their fruity taste without oxidising. The grapes are then pressed and bottled after further fermentation. It produces intense, fruity reds, often with a slight fizz, designed to be drunk as soon as they are bottled.
As a young wine, it is bright red with violet hues. On the nose, there are raspberries and strawberries and in the mouth it has a slight fizz and oodles of red fruit. The finish is long with a hint of tannins.
At seven to eight euros per bottle, this is an excellent value Canary Islands red wine.
Serve slightly chilled at 15ºC with pastas, Asian food, white meat and meaty fish.