Monday, March 14th, 2011
More than a hundred people attended Bodegas Rubicon vineyard for the presentation and tasting of the exquisite wines produced from last season’s harvest.
The 2010 grape harvest has produced some “excellent” Denomination of Origin wines according to the chairman of the Regulatory Board Javier Betancort at the presentation in the Bodegas Rubicon winery last Friday. More than a hundred people had the opportunity to taste and enjoy the most recent wines produced in Lanzarote.
It is only the third time in the 17 years since the Regulatory Board was created that Lanzarote Denomination of Origin wines have been awarded a rating of “excellent” by the tasting committee. The committee tasted a selection of twenty-five 2010 vintage wines, including ten dry malvasias, six semi-sweet whites, four rosés, three tinto joven reds, a sweet malvasia and a sweet muscatel.
Javier Betancort briefly went over the main facts and figures relating to the sector’s productivity in 2010; a year in which the grape yield barely reached a million and a half kilos – a million less than the average year, but nevertheless a year when sales increased by some 32% on the previous year. Some 1,930,869 back labels were supplied by the Regulatory Board to the 17 member wine producers so that each and every bottle could boast the distinctive logo identifying its quality as a Lanzarote Denomination of Origin wine.
The chairman of the Regulatory Board accredited the positive upturn to the joint action undertaken by the Canarian government, Lanzarote’s inter-island council, the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce and the Regulatory Board itself, which have worked together to promote Lanzarote wines as a valuable marketing tool to attract quality tourism to the island.
The Cabildo’s Agriculture Councillor, Nereida Pérez, also addressed the presentation and thanked the efforts and collaboration of all those involved in the island’s wine producing sector. She also took the opportunity to underline the importance of the Food & Wine Plan promoted by the Cabildo which has contributed to the promotion of Lanzarote wines as a tourist attraction.
The presentation of the 2010 Vintage evaluation included speeches by wine experts Tomás Pérez (El Grifo vineyard), Alberti González (Stratvs vineyard) and Alejandro Felipe (La Geria vineyard) who summarized the qualities of the excellent white wines, rosés and red wines produced in Lanzarote this year.
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Monday, February 21st, 2011
Timanfaya National Park was the image chosen to feature on the ONCE lottery ticket sold on Sunday 20th February. The ticket was presented last Tuesday by ONCE’s regional representative in the Canaries, Gabriel Lizoaín, together with Miguel Ángel Pulido, Canarian Deputy Minister of Town and Country Planning.
In a ceremony that took place at the Cabildo, the local government headquarters, Lizoaín presented Pulido with the framed printing plate used for producing this specially designed lottery ticket. The presentation was attended by president of Timanfaya Foundation, Concepción Pérez, the director of the National Park, Aurelio Centellas and vice-president of the Cabildo, Fabián Martín, who expressed gratitude to ONCE for choosing to circulate the image of Timanfaya National Park which is so emblematic of the island. Also attending the presentation was Manuel Mendoza, director of the Arrecife branch of ONCE.
The Canary Islands’ four national parks, Timanfaya in Lanzarote; Caldera de Taburiente in La Palma; Garajonay in La Gomera and Teide in Tenerife, have been selected to form part of a series of 14 lottery tickets that ONCE have dedicated to Spain’s Network of National Parks. A total of 70 million ONCE tickets featuring the National Parks will be in circulation throughout the country from January to April 2011.
The Timanfaya lottery ticket is one in this series of weekend tickets dedicated to the national parks which come under the umbrella of the Canarian Deputy Ministry for Town and Country Planning.
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Friday, February 11th, 2011
500 bottles of Dry Malvasia and 500 bottles of Red wine produced by Lanzarote vintner La Grieta are soon to be enjoyed by the demanding Japanese market.
Five hundred bottles of Grieta’s Dry Malvasia and another 500 of its 2010 Red will soon be wending their way to Japan, one of the world’s most discerning consumer markets. Lanzarote wine makers La Grieta, located in Punta Mujeres, produces regulated appellation wines that are classified as Designation of Origin “Lanzarote wines”.
The La Grieta wines have been picked up on by a prestigious importers of Spanish wines in Japan who sent a representative from their Barcelona office to visit winemakers Ricardo Socas and Sabina Leeuwenburg in Lanzarote last November. After sending a selection of wines to their head office in Japan for tasting, they were given the go-ahead to ship out 1,000 bottles which will be distributed in restaurants, hotels and bars in the capital Tokyo as well as the region of Kansai which includes the cities of Osaka, Kioto and Kobe.
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Monday, February 7th, 2011
The series of workshops opens with Javier Betancort speaking about the Regulatory Board that governs the Designation of Origin “Wines of Lanzarote”, followed by another talk by José Juan Otamendi about the future of the island’s wines and vineyards.
On the 4th February at 7pm, Teguise’s Municipal Theatre opens its doors to “Lanzarote Tourism and Viticulture 2011″ – a course of informative and practical workshops organised by the Wines of Lanzarote Designation of Origin Control Board in association with the Friends of Wine Association, Lanzarote Cheese and the José Clavijo and Fajardo Foundation.
The inaugural session kicks off with a talk about how the Control Board works and the characteristics of the Designation of Origin Wines of Lanzarote given by the president of this organisation, Javier Betancort. This is followed by lawyer and co-owner of the Bodegas El Grifo vineyard, José Juan Otamendi, who will address the issue “Lanzarote Wines and Vineyards – an Uncertain Future”.
With the 100 places all but filled, the workshops are essentially aimed at students and people who work in the tourism sector, the hotel trade and restaurant industry. However, they are also open to any member of the public who may wish to sit in on them.
The workshops will take place over three different sessions, in February (pruning season), May (when the vines are checked and treated) and in July or August (time of the grape harvest). The first session ends on Saturday 5th February with a theoretical and practical activity on pruning and harvesting which will be given by agricultural engineer and wine expert Alberto González at the Bodegas Stratvs vineyard starting at 9.30 am. Once this activity is completed, delegates will have the opportunity to take part in a wine-tasting session.
The second session will take place on Saturday 7th May in the socio-cultural centre in Yé and will include a lecture given by the official chronicler of Haría, Gregorio Barreto, followed by a theoretical and practical activity in the area of the La Corona volcano directed by the owner of the Vega de Yuco vineyard and agricultural engineer, Rafael Espino. This second session will also end with wine-tasting in the social-cultural centre.
The date of the third session has yet to be confirmed, but will be held between July and August. The first part will cover the entire process of the grape harvest and the second part will be given by Orlando Ortega, owner of Lilium restaurant, who will talk about how wines are presented, kept and served.
The series of workshops on Lanzarote Tourism and Viticulture 2011 was initially to be held in Spínola Palace but owing to refurbishment work the venue has been changed to the Teguise Municipal Theatre.
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Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
The tourist complex Nautilus Lanzarote has just received the Title of Accessibility and Adaptability in the category of Adapted.
Nautilus Bungalows turns this way into the first tourist establishment into the Canary Islands that there shows this distinction with which there is guaranteed the practiced of his facilities to persons with problems of limited mobility.
Located in Matagorda, in Lanzarote’s south, Bungalows Nautilus it has followed a Plan of Accessibility attending to all the aspects to obtain a tourist polyvalent complex directed all kinds of clients under the concept of tourism for all.
The equipment and Nautilus Lanzarote’s direction have done of the accessible tourism his maxim and this way he remains reflected in a few facilities provided with ramps, bathrooms adapted in common zones, swimming pool equipped with hydraulic hoist etc. The complex consists of 70 bungalows of one and two rooms of which 34 have been specially reformed to offer a few ideal conditions of accessibility for persons with disability and to facilitate so this collective enjoyment of an of integration tourism.
34 adapted bungalows possess entry to level zero, doors free space of step of 90 cm, zones space of draft of 150 free cm of obstacles Baths completely equipped with bars of support in water closets, showers to level zero with seat and bars and wash basins without foot between other details. Some of the bungalows possess also kitchens without furniture under the vitrocerámica “kitchen” or the sink to allow the frontal access to users of wheelchair.
The excellence as for accessibility of his facilities turns it into a modal into Lanzarote’s island for the group of persons with physical disability and comes to increase this way the tourist accessible offer of quality in the Canary Isles.
The Title of Accessibility and Adaptability has been granted by Equalitas Vitae, consulting specialized in elimination of architectural barriers and accessible tourism for persons with problems of mobility reduced in Spain.
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