Facundo Martín has been dedicated to the cultivation of Lanzarote grapes for more than 30 years and currently works more than 20 hectares of vineyards of the Marcial Group in La Vegueta, which produce up to 100,000 kilos of grapes per year. The host of the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet, Carlos Chavaud, has visited this plantation with Martín to learn its secrets.
- How did you get the idea to dedicate yourself to grapes?
Since I was little I always liked the world of vines. First, when I was 14 years old, I was working with Santiago Hernández, founder of the El Faro Cheese Factory, who had vines and sent me to weed them and collect the branches of those who had pruned. Then I had the opportunity to work with a machine, because my profession was a tractor driver and I stayed. I have been in this vineyard for 29 years.
- How many hectares does the plantation have and how many kilos of grapes can it produce?
There are 44 hectares of land and 20 and something of vines. It is prepared to produce 100,000 kilos of grapes. There was almost 90% of black listan, but now we make 97% of malvasia.
- This is a plantation that stands out for its design, it must be impressive seen from the air. How was it carried out?
In an artisanal way, there were no plans or anything. Between my boss, me and the employees, we each stood at one end and marked with bottles where each vine had to be placed.
- Now we treat the grapes as if they were gold bars, but I understand that there have been bad times, what was that like?
Yes, there was a time when the grapes had to be thrown into the landfill. I think it was in 2009, a lot of grapes were thrown away because they didn't buy them. It was a very strong harvest, a very good year for grapes, but it had no outlet, so it went to the landfill. They said that subsidies were going to be paid per kilo of grapes, which has not yet been collected.
- The turns that life takes, now with the promotion it has had and the fact that it is more valued by the people of Lanzarote, the situation has completely changed and there is a shortage of grapes...
Now I get a lot of calls from the wineries, specifically the winemakers, to see how the harvest is going. And they are going to call us even more, because it is in June and July when they already know the amount of grapes there are and the amount they need. (laughs).
- And after so long working the vineyard, does a sentimental relationship develop with the plants?
I love animals, and I look at them as if they were just another animal, I almost talk to them. It's so much time I spend with them. I've been on vacation and I've come to see them. If I have nothing on a Sunday, I'm on the farm. Many people think that the farm, because of how big it is, has a lot of people working and there are three of us.
In a vineyard, the important thing is to keep control, which is done by plots, if you keep good control of the vineyard you get hold of it. This way you know where there is a sick plant or where there is a variety that you have to remove because two different ones were mixed.
- Tell me about the grafts, is it true that they equalize or even improve the quality of the grape?
For me it is almost better. There are years that are more for grafts, there are years that stick less, but I see that we have a tremendous quality and every year we have more quality. We are taking the farm almost to an ecological point.
A new vine comes out in three or four years in a new land, but when you plant it near old vines it costs a lot and sometimes it doesn't even come out. Then with a graft or a layering it is solved.
- Explain to us, what is a layering?
A layering is to take a branch from the old vine, pass it under the sand, remove the buds that remain below so that roots do not come out and graft it into the new one, which it feeds, so it gives you grapes the first year, a couple of bunches, because the vine always tends to give grapes in its longest branches. In this way the new plant is not lost, it will live for sure.
- You have a specific area for ecological production, don't you?
Yes, it is four hectares, but we intend that the entire plantation be ecological. Every day, we are removing more phytosanitary products and replacing them with sulfur. When the weather does not allow us to sulphurate, we do it with liquid sulfur.
- What is the main enemy of the vine?
Oidium, which is also called “ash”, and mildew. Ash is a fungus, which develops according to temperatures. If there are high temperatures during the day and at night they drop, for example, from 15 degrees, there will be ash for sure. Many people see the weather gray and say ash is falling. In reality, the ash is on the ground and the spores are dispersed with humidity. It is fought with sulfur.
- How is the grape this year?
I see it a little better, this year the bunches are more even. Last year there were three different bunches, there were three vengadas la la la evidently the winemakers are going to call you every day when June arrives.
- What dangers could the grape face from now until the harvest?
There is the weather factor, that a Levante wind comes and destroys the vines.
- And a heat wave?
It depends on the degrees that are reached, the grapes that are on top of the sand could burn.
