Lanzarote wines have been classified as "very good" in the Qualification Act of the 2023 Vintage during the event held this past Tuesday inside the emblematic Castle of San José. The resolution of this recognition was announced with great enthusiasm by the Regulatory Council. The event was attended by relevant figures from the sector, including winemakers, winegrowers, as well as a large group of wine lovers.
For the qualification of the 2023 vintage, the tasting committee, made up of seven experts, assessed a total of 26 wines from the Designation of Origin Vinos de Lanzarote, from different wineries on the island. Among them were: 18 dry whites, three rosés, four reds and one sweet white.
Once tasted and analyzed, the sum and calculation of the median were carried out, with the final result being 23 points. This figure corresponds to the qualification of "very good", according to the valuation system applied by the Regulatory Council.
During the event, the talk The wine of Lanzarote in gastronomy took place, by Iván Monreal, sommelier certified by the Court of Master Sommelier and gastronomic advisor with extensive experience in the national and international scene, who highlighted "the uniqueness and great benefits of Lanzarote wines to pair in gastronomy and merge unique flavors. Due to this, it is essential to emphasize the value of the island's wine product and position it as an ideal differentiating option compared to other national and international references."
After Monreal's master lecture, Darío Pérez, Technician of the Regulatory Council, focused on explaining the fundamental features of the vintage. In his speech, he put in the foreground the relevance and benefits derived from the use of meteorological stations in the cultivation processes.
He also reported that "it should be noted that in this 2023 campaign the rainfall has been quite generous with different parts of the island, since, of the four meteorological stations that the Regulatory Council has, most of them exceeded 200 liters of accumulated rainfall (between September 2022 and May 2023), except for the station in the Tinajo-Tilama area that recorded the amount of 124 liters accumulated". "Thanks to these data, the grape production increased considerably compared to the previous campaign," he added.
Regarding diseases or pests, the technician stressed that "there were significant production losses due to the attack of the fruit fly, this event caused part of the harvest to be lost."
Regarding data in the sector, in 2023 there was the effort of a total of 1,857 winegrowers who worked more than 1,900 hectares of surface in Lanzarote. For its part, the wineries attached to the Regulatory Council have increased to 29, and released a total of 1,828,524 bottles during the year 2023.
As for the varieties, the Volcanic Malvasia has increased two percentage points, representing 72% of the total production that entered the wineries. Other varieties that were harvested were: Listán Negro (11%), Listán Blanco (5%), Diego (5%), Muscat of Alexandria (4%) and Syrah (2%).
After the information offered by the technician, the attendees were able to taste references from the Island, paired with various local products. The president of the Council, Jorge Rodríguez, expressed his gratitude "to all those who strive day by day to preserve the excellence of Lanzarote Wines and to all those present." He also stressed that "without the commitment and work of our winegrowers, this celebration would not be possible. I trust that we will continue to collaborate - winegrowers, winemakers, and both public and private entities - to strengthen the presence of our wines both nationally and internationally."
