Canary Islands: volcanic vines

From royal vineyard to cult wine

Vines were introduced to the Canary Islands in the 15th century. It's recorded that the first vineyard in Tenerife was planted by Fernando de Castro in 1497, and the next, in El Hierro, arrived in 1526. The great diversity of origins among the first conquerors and settlers led to the introduction of some of Europe's finest vines. In the early 16th century, coinciding with the decline of sugar-cane growing, Canary wines began to be exported — especially the Malvasia, known as 'Canary Wine', which enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a luxury product served at the tables of Europe's leading monarchies. Literary masters such as Shakespeare, Daniel Defoe, Góngora and Sir Walter Scott mention it in their works.

The 1706 volcanic eruption, which buried the port of Garachico —the main export port for Canary wines— and the oidium and mildew outbreaks of the 19th century, put an end to this thriving trade.

A mosaic of lava

The Canary Islands have more than 15,000 hectares of vineyards spread across ten designations of origin, the first of which dates from 1985. Soils are classified by the age of the lava: those with high land-use capacity, suitable for any farming activity, tend to lie in the mid-altitude zones —often 'sorribas', soil moved there from elsewhere on the same island. Soils on recent lava flows, on the other hand, have very low land-use capacity and can barely support any crop.

Why we're not there yet

The Canary Islands aren't part of the Terroir Radical catalogue yet, but the combination of volcanic soils, island isolation and native varieties makes it, perhaps, Spain's most singular wine territory. We follow it with great curiosity.