Carmelo Peña studied chemistry and specialized in oenology. After working in several countries around the world, he returned to the Canary Islands and, among other projects, has opened one of the youngest wineries in Lanzarote, El Jable de Tao, which produces seven references.
In an interview with the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet of Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, Peña explains how he manages to make wine with the flavor of the landscape, the town or the island.
- Where are you from and how did you get into the world of wine?
I am a Canarian adopted in Lanzarote and I started thanks to the world of restoration. When everyone wanted to be a pilot or an astronaut, I wanted to have a restaurant.
I discovered the world of wine while studying Chemical Engineering and I became passionate about it. Then I went to study oenology in Tarragona and I spent five years working abroad in several countries, several wineries, of different styles.
"I have always had Lanzarote idealized, as, I think, all the people in the world of wine do"
- What was it like to return to the Canary Islands?
I started with a project in Gran Canaria, but I have always had Lanzarote idealized, as, I think, all the people in the world of wine do. We have a winery in Gran Canaria in the high areas of San Mateo, we work at more than 1100 meters. Nothing to do with what we do in Lanzarote although in the end the objective is to bottle the different landscapes in both projects.
- How did you get to Lanzarote?
I was here in a previous project to this one. They told me, "Do you want to go to Lanzarote to make wine?" I didn't think about it, I got on the plane and came.
It was another part of the dream. There are many people who want to come to this island, great winemakers from all over the world who want to come here because making wine in this land, oenologically, is orgasmic.
I have traveled many places in the world, wineries and wine regions and there is nothing in the world like this.
"We bottle different places in Lanzarote"
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What is the Jable de Tao project about?
In Jable de Tao, rather than focusing on the grape varieties, we focus on the places. We bottle different places in Lanzarote.
We talk a lot about Lanzarote as a volcanic island, and about Malvasia, but there is much more to talk about. We work a lot in sandy soils; in soils of marine origin, which are calcareous; in La Geria; in Haría...
The wines can be made in the same way and taste totally different.
- How do you produce the wine?
We work organically in the vineyard and we don't add any chemicals in the winery, nor yeasts that can modify, nor enzymes, zero.
We do it in the traditional way, we take everything that is in the vineyard, that is, our Jable de Tao, which is our island wine, has the four varieties, volcanic Malvasia, white Listán, Diego and black Listán.
As it was done in the old days, everything that is in the farm is taken, it is pressed as a white and it is fermented.
- Does that make the wine a darker white perhaps?
Traditionally it was stepped on in the press, it was a little more amber, more golden, we maintain the history, but with a little more technology. We use a pneumatic press and we extract the juice as quickly and as white as possible. The percentage of ink is very small.
You can find a little more of that golden color, but always avoiding macerations and extracting the finest possible must.
- How many references do you have?
We started in 2022, which is our first vintage, with four references and we work according to the zoning. You have to imagine a pyramid, we have an island wine at the base, which are plots from all over the island, and it is like having Lanzarote inside a bottle.
Then we go to the wines of place or town. We have a wine that is only from the town of Tao, for example, which is where most of our vineyard exists, we have 16 hectares of our own, and a large part of the group of winegrowers who collaborate with us. Then, at the top we would have the wines of a plot, the wines of a single farm.
We started with 15,000 bottles the first year and four references. The second year, 2023, whose harvest was quite productive, we came out with seven references.
The wines come out after two years, first they have a year of aging in the winery. You travel through them, many bear the names of the places: Tenesar, el Chupadero (in the middle of La Geria), Haría...
- Where can we find Jable de Tao wines?
In different points. For us it is very important where and with whom we sell, so we are in places where they really take care of our product.
I can name some restaurants such as SeBe, in Costa Teguise; Tacande in the north, Santa Leña, in Arrecife; Kamezí, in Playa Blanca...
Also in some stores such as Algo más, in Arrecife; La Sede Vinoteca, in Playa Honda, and in many more.
They can also contact us through social networks or through the website. In each of the bottles we have a QR that directs to each of the sites with a video so they can see where the wine comes from.
