2019 Pablo Matallana Vinícola Taro Tinto Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

A lifted, volcanic island red with wild berries, smoke, herbs, and the kind of freshness that makes you rethink what red wine can be.

Why We Love It

This is the bottle for the person who says,
“I want red wine… but I don’t want it to feel heavy.”

Pablo Matallana’s 2019 Vinícola Taro Tinto is one of those wines that feels impossible until it’s in your glass. Red wine from Lanzarote — a stark, windblown volcanic island where vines grow in crater-like hoyos dug into black ash and protected by low stone walls — sounds like a story. And then you taste it, and it tastes even more improbable: bright, smoky, mineral, alive.

Made from old-vine Listán Negro with a small amount of co-planted Listán Blanco, this is a red that gives you red cherry, cranberry, herbs, smoke, and volcanic grit with an almost weightless frame.

Not a big red.
Not a soft red.
A red with lift, tension, and a point of view.

Tasting Notes

In the glass: Transparent ruby with a vivid, energetic glow — the kind of color that signals freshness before you even swirl.

On the nose: Barely-ripe red cherry, cranberry, smoky earth, scrubby herbs, and a volcanic mineral note that feels more like warm stone than fruit gloss. CellarTracker notes on the 2019 specifically call out a volcanic and very savory nose, with red cherry and cranberry at the core.

On the palate: Tart red berries, a little blood orange lift, smoky minerality, and a dry herbal edge. It’s light-bodied, but not simple — there’s texture from lees aging and a distinct sense of tension throughout. The wine finishes savory, lifted, and quietly haunting.

Structure: Light-bodied with fresh acidity, fine tannin, and a mineral backbone that keeps everything taut. This is the kind of red that gets more interesting with air — and can absolutely take a soft chill.

The Story

Pablo Matallana’s Vinícola Taro Tinto is made from old-vine Listán Negro with a small amount of co-planted Listán Blanco, sourced from a vineyard called “Chibusque” in central Lanzarote. The vines are planted in the island’s iconic hoyos — hand-dug, crater-like depressions in volcanic ash designed to protect the vines from the relentless Atlantic winds and preserve moisture in one of the driest wine regions on earth.

For the 2019 vintage, the grapes were hand-harvested in mid-August, destemmed, and saw about 3 days of skin maceration before being pressed into stainless steel for native yeast fermentation. The wine then aged 11 months on fine lees, and was bottled the following July without fining or filtration.

That matters, because this wine doesn’t feel “made” in the polished modern sense.
It feels drawn out of the landscape.

This is a red for people who love:

• Etna

• Canary Islands

• old vines

• salt air

• reds that feel like they’re whispering instead of shouting

Pairing Ideas

This is the bottle for char, salt, spice, and anything that tastes better outdoors.

We’d pair it with:

• Grilled octopus

• Papas arrugadas with mojo

• Chorizo + lentils

• Tuna conserva + good bread

• Roast chicken with paprika

• Charred eggplant

• Mushroom toast

• Lamb skewers

• Smoky tomato dishes

If you want to lean local to the wine’s own energy:
this absolutely feels like a bottle for charred food, salt, and open air.

Why It Works

Because it tastes like volcanic red wine without trying to perform “volcanic red wine.”

It’s not trying to be impressive.
It’s trying to be true.

And that’s why it lands.

This is the kind of bottle that reminds people red wine can be:

• lifted

• savory

• mineral

• emotional

Not just powerful.

Technical Notes

Producer: Pablo Matallana / Vinícola Taro
Wine: Taro Tinto
Vintage: 2019
Region: Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

Varieties:
Old-vine Listán Negro with a small amount of co-planted Listán Blanco.

Vineyard:
“Chibusque” vineyard, central Lanzarote.

Vine Training / Terroir Context:
Traditional hoyos plantings in Lanzarote’s volcanic ash soils, protected from wind by low walls / crater-style depressions.

Winemaking (2019 vintage):

• Hand-harvested mid-August

• Destemmed

• ~3 days skin maceration

• Pressed to stainless steel

• Native yeast fermentation

• Aged 11 months on fine lees

• Bottled the following July

• Unfined and unfiltered

Farming:
Organic / low-intervention ethos is consistently associated with the producer and later vintages; retailer and importer notes support a natural-leaning, minimal-intervention approach.

Body: Light
Acidity: Medium+ / fresh
Tannin: Low–Medium, fine

Flavor Profile:
Red Cherry · Cranberry · Smoke · Volcanic Stone · Wild Herbs · Savory Earth

Serving Temperature:
55–60°F
(or lightly chilled, ~50–55°F, for extra lift and snap)

Drink Window:
Now–2028