The Volcanic Wine Valley

Sept. 9, 2010 - PRLog -- In the south of the island is a valley that is declared as a protected area.  This is because it is Lanzarote's main wine growing region that occupies about 52 square km and stretches both sides of the road from Masdache to Uga and right up to the volcanic slope.  This is an area where most of Lanzarote's acclaimed wines comes from.  If you are looking at Lanzarote Villas maybe this area is an ideal one, as you could always get a bottle of bubbly when you need it.

It is said that 75 per cent of the wine is made from Malvasia grape, which is one of the oldest grape varieties.  The wine is well known for its sweet taste and honey colour.  It was praised by Shakespeare over hundred years ago and today the Malvasia grape produce a few varieties of top quality wines which range from red to rose wines and the sweet to dry kinds.

This is located on the edge of the badlands which are covered with black volcanic ash.  This is what makes the vineyards of La Geria look different from a typical vineyard, they look like they have come from somewhere out of this world.  This is due to the Lanzaroteños cultivating vines on this arid and hostile ground in a unique way.  What they did was dug 10,00 funnel shaped hollows into the thick layers of picón which are black volcanic stones,  they planted the vines with only one vine in each hollow, then they filled them with soil and poured thick layers of picon over it.  This is done because the volcanic granules help retain the night humidity to feed the plants also they built low semicircular walls around them to protect them from nonstop winds and to prevent them from drying out.

It is because of this ingenious cultivation method that they have had prosperous results in the wine industry.  No renowned for excellent wines, they can be sampled and purchased in a number of local winegrowers' bodegas which are wine shops, they can also learn a bit of history at a wine museum.  It’s also funny as the valleys are a top tourist attraction for the art lovers.  This is thanks to the extensive rows of horseshoe-like walls that depending how you look at them can look like a group of honeycombs across a rolling landscape.

The wine museum is called El Grifo Museo, it is housed in an old bodega but don't worry it is much larger than it looks.  Here visitors can delve deep inside the old tile lined storage tanks which is where exhibits are held.  These include camel saddles, camels were the traditional animal of that shouldered the burden of carry supplies.  Also old wine making equipment and a complete barrel making shop can be found here.  Wine is sold by the half glass in the bodega so be sure to sample produced here such as Malmsey and their table wines.  El Grifo is the oldest bodega in the Canary Islands with its striking griffin sign that was designed by artist Cesar Manrique, whom had also converted the old bodega to a museum.

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