Taste of Vail seminar gives new take on island wines

When on a tropical vacation, sipping on wine doesn’t really come to mind for me. Fruity umbrella drinks, rum concoctions or a salty margarita are more the norm, but the Island Wines seminar at the Taste of Vail changed those misconceptions for me.

Led by wine writer and critic Alder Yarrow of JancisRobinson.com and Vinography.com, the Island Wine seminar featured six wines from islands in Greece, Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. The educational talk covered much more than wine, it delved into the geography, history, geopolitical events of the time and transported you to a different state of mind.

Wine #1

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• Winery: 2022 Domaine Sigalas 
• Vintage: 2022
• Grape: Assyrtiko
• Region: Santorini, Greece

Yarrow explained how volcanic activity has affected the island of Santorini and how wine grapes are able to grow there. The viticulture is quite unique because the vines of Santorini are planted very close to the ground due to the winds and they take the vines and basically wrap them into a kouloura, or a type of basket, for protection. The vines send roots deep down, hundreds of meters into the soil of ash and pumice. The wine we tried is from the Assyrtiko grape, the most popular grape in the area, and the result was a fresh, bright, saline, almost salty flavor which Yarrow said pairs great with the seafood there.

Wine #2

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• Winery: Envinate
• Vintage: 2022
• Name: “Palo Blanco”
• Grape: Listan Blanco
• Region: Canary Islands, Spain

Yarrow explained how the Canary Islands were one of the last stops for the early explorers before heading off to the Spice Islands and sailing around the world. Here, the vines are “braided” and become massive after 50, 100 or 150 years. Listan Blanco is the grape used in the wine we tried. The most distinct thing for most people in the seminar was the smell of this wine. “I like the smell of this wine because it smells like the volcano,” Yarrow said. Another seminar attendee agreed. “I’m from Scandinavia and in the 1970s I went to the Canary Islands and this tastes like the beach, I feel like I am right back at that beach!”

Wine #3

• Winery: Azores Wine Company
• Vintage: 2021
• Name: “o Original”
• Grape: Verdelho
• Region: Azores, Portugal

The Azores were settled in 1497 and it was another final stop before explorers crossed the Atlantic. Like Santorini, the volcanic activity of the island and wind affect the growth of the grapes. The wine we tried was made of the Verdelho grape, not to be confused with Verdejo, which is a completely different Spanish grape. Yarrow said these grapes are literally washed by the ocean waves that come crashing down. Yarrow also mentioned that wines from this region were actually quite famous; 180 years ago, the wines were bought by the czars of Russia and the Vatican.   

Wine #4

• Winery: Domaine de Marquiliani
• Vintage: 2021
• Name: “Le Rosé de Paulina”
• Grape: Rosé Blend
• Region: Corsica, France

In contrast to wines grown in volcanic regions, Corsica has massive granite mountains. The wine we tried was a rosé and Yarrow said that every rose he’s tried from Corsica is fantastic. Our pour was very light in color due to less time on the skins of the grape. There was a bit of a briny quality to it, but it was also very floral.  

Wine #5

• Winery: Monteleone
• Vintage: 2021
• Name: “Rumex”
• Grape: Nerello Mascalese, Etna Rosso
• Region: Sicily, Italy

“Mount Etna is one of the world’s largest and most active volcanoes, which means that growing grapes there is basically insane,” Yarrow said of Sicily. This was the first red wine we tried and it was very smooth. “When I taste an Etna Rosso wine, it tastes like it’s been filtered through powdered stone,” Yarrow said. To counter that, there was fruit and floral quality and bright acidity. Despite the challenges in growing wine, Yarrow said Etna is one of the hottest wine-growing areas of Italy right now.

Wine #6

• Winery: AgriPunica
• Vintage: 2019
• Name: “Barrua”
• Grape: Carignan Blend, Isola dei Nuraghi
• Region: Sardinia, Italy

Sardinia has a lot of granite, limestone and primarily grows French varietals. “The vineyards on Sardinia have the benefit of having the ocean influence but also this mountainous backdrop and really stony soils to produce a deeper, richer wine that is more age-worthy,” Yarrow said. The red wine we had was a carignan blend and was very smooth and tasted the least like the other island wines in my opinion.

This seminar was a very eye-opening experience. It was so interesting to learn about how the grapes grow in, quite frankly, some very difficult conditions. I know that after learning about island wines I’ll definitely order some local vino the next time I’m at the beach.