Amor López from Lanzarote studied biology and oenology and worked for several years in Madrid in the scientific field, but she always knew that her dream job awaited her on the island.
In 2021, the pandemic pause allowed her to relaunch the family winery with the name Eruption, and with the help of her father, she currently produces white and red wines that are aged with tradition.
In an interview with the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet from Radio Lanzarote, López recounts her entrepreneurial experience and tells how she makes her wines.
- Your relationship with the world of wine comes from your family, doesn't it?
Since I was little, I have lived the harvests with my family in my grandparents' winery. We played, we stepped on the grapes... and as I grew up, I saw the value that was around all that, not only of culture and tradition, but also of our lifestyle.
- How did you come to take over the winery?
I studied biology and oenology and was in a winery in Zamora. Every year I tried to help my father in Lanzarote in each harvest, even though I had another profession in Madrid, where I came to study and work.
When Covid arrived, I was in Lanzarote for a while teleworking and looking at the clear blue sky and taking into account what we had at home, I thought it was an important moment to leave that professional activity and dedicate myself in the first person one hundred percent to wine.
- When did you start with the winery?
I established the Erupciones winery in May 2021 and contacted suppliers from Italy, Portugal, France, Germany... all with delivery times of 18, 24 and 36 months. The harvest was in August.
I was lucky that one of my suppliers, who brought the tanks to measure, committed and on July 27 the tanks arrived at the port of Arrecife, on July 29 I already had everything prepared.
- How has the change been?
It is true that I studied oenology, but many years ago, and I have dedicated myself to other things. At first, my professional orientation was in the scientific field. I was at the Center for Biological Research in Madrid. I worked in molecular biology, clinical microbiology and then in the pharmaceutical industry.
But when people asked me, I told them that my real job was waiting for me in Lanzarote because I already had it drawn in my mind. I had it planned, but I needed the right moment to make the decision.
- How did your father react when you told him that you would be the third generation of winemakers?
My father has always supported me. He has been dedicated to viticulture for more than 50 years, making his wine and for him it was a great emotion to see that I was taking this step.
He is helping me a lot, from him I learn the traditions, the authenticity that this landscape has, things that are not found described in any book. In our vineyard there are no employees, it's my father and me.
- How did the idea of naming the winery Erupción come about?
The viticulture of Lanzarote would not make sense if there had not been these volcanic episodes for six consecutive years, from 1730 to 1736, which gave rise to the landscape we know today, especially in the area of La Geria.
There were other subsequent outbreaks, such as in 1824, in the town of Tao, where our winery and a large part of our vineyards are located. That is why I wanted to call it Erupción 1824, but when registering it in trademarks and patents I was advised to omit the date, which could give more problems when registering it.
- And the volcanoes are also present in the name of your wines...
Yes, in their name there are references to the world of volcanology. The whites are called 'miracle of magmacia', in reference to the miracle that from the magma, the malvasia has been and is, the dominant white variety of the island.
'Obsidian light' winks at the volcanic material that the Guanches used in their time for the tips of their weapons, and to the name of my grandmother, whose name was Luz.
Obsidian has a color that reminds me a lot of the color of the skin of the black listón, the variety with which I have made this red wine.
- And they are wines that age well...
Most of our wines in Lanzarote are young, with that freshness and character that malvasia has, a very aromatic and tropical variety.
I always thought of a wine for aging, that you could continue enjoying, not only in the year after its production.
