Wine making in the Canaries began at the end of the 15th Century after the conquest of the Islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma.
The discovery of America caused the shift from the cultivation and processing of sugar cane to the introduction of vines in order to supply wine to the fleets that left from here to the west (also wheat, which together with oil made up the Mediterranean diet).
In the 16th Century, wine was the most important product for export.
Neither Lanzarote nor Fuerteventura had proper conditions for vine cultivation at this latitude - 29th parallel (the other islands were blessed with a more favourable altitude); however, despite the scarcity of rainfall (150cm/year) and the constant trade winds that whipped over the plants, the system they adapted led to their reputation as "the vineyard of the impossible".
Lanzarote is an "Apellation d'Origine" wine producing area, which includes a dozen vintners.
The wines of Lanzarote are of excellent quality and whoever drinks them participates directly in not only maintaining the rural tradition, but also the singular landscape of La Geria, unique in the world, resulting from the peculiar system used by the growers to extract this vital juice from the earth.
For inexplicable reasons, phylloxero (insect disease) has not come to the Canaries. Root stalks can therefore be planted directly into the ground without the necessity of stalk grafting.
During the first hundred years (since 1737), most of Lanzarote's wines were destined for liquor, which the merchants of Tenerife acquired by adding them to their wines.
Although Lanzarote was the last island of the Canaries to enter wine growing, it nevertheless has the oldest cellar in the Archipelago - El Grifo - which has been producing wine continuously since at least 1775 (according to the date of the inscription on one of the covered tubs).
VOLCANIC MALVASIA WINE: The new name for the variety better known as Lanzarote Malvasia. It is most likely a variety of Canarian origin as everything suggests it comes from a blend between the Aromatic Malvasia (of Greek origin) and Marmajuelo. It is a productive variety of white grape, with light aromatic touches and average maturation. The leading variety among the Lanzarote Malvasia wines, it is also cultivated on other islands under the name of Malvasia, Malaga or Sebastian Garcia.
MOSCATEL WINE: The Alejandria Moscatel is cultivated on Lanzarote under the name Moscatel, a variety which is present in all wine-growing areas of the world and has been known about for centuries. It is used both as a table grape and for wine-making. With late and irregular budding and a tendency to bleed, it grows in clusters with large berries which provide the typical Moscatel aroma, and is therefore highly prized in the production of both single-varietal wines as well as coupages with neutral varieties.
RED WINE: The red wine is a type of wine coming mostly from grape must inks, including development relevant for the dissemination of material containing dye the skins of the grapes. Depending on the time of aging that takes place in barrel and bottle, leads to get young wines, crianzas, reservations or large reserves. Once in the cave there are two methods: the carbonic maceration, with whole grapes and confined (traditional harvesters, for early trade) and another in which eliminates the scraping No breaks and bunch of grapes before fermentation yeast (used by companies bodegueras, for use in breeding).
Find all the information you need on these links in Lanzarote.
