A small rock in the Atlantic: Vega Norte Wine

Vega Norte wine from La Palma

Wines from La Palma have improved enormously in the 20 years since I came here. Partly this is because they've created a "Denominación de Origen" which is much the same as the French "Appellation d’origine contrôlée" - you have to pass quality standards to be able to put the words on your bottle. And partly the local wine producers have just plain worked hard. Still, there's an element of luck involved. The climate's been so erratic lately that there's quite a difference between one year and another.

I'll let you into a local secret. Bottles of white Vega Norte from 2009 are flying off the shelves. It's got a light, flowery taste, and you can expect to pay about 4€ a bottle

Labels: food and drink