When you open a bottle of Canarian red wine made from listán negro, you pretty much know what you are going to get; Lively berry flavours, a hit of minerals, and a spicy aftertaste. However, many are a little discordant as the different elements duke it out in your mouth. 

The challenge for Canarian red wine makers that rely on listán negro has been to preserve the fruitiness of the grape but tame its boisterous elements. The main ways to do this is to stick the wine in barrels for a few months or to blend in other grapes.

The Las Tirajanas Tinto Roble does both these things to great effect. 

It's a blend (coupage if you want to be all winey about things) of listán negro, along with three minor but quality Canarian grape varieties; castellana negra, tintilla and vijariego negro.

Then it gets three months in oak to mellow everything out.

The result is a smooth, balanced red wine that hasn't lost it's berry flavours. 

Buy this one on sight.

€10 euros in Carrefour, less from the winery up near Tunte.