The secretary of the Regulatory Council of the Designation of Origin of Wine of Lanzarote, Nereida Pérez, analyzes the sweet moment that the sector is going through, with twice as many wineries as there were in 2012, harvesting more awards than ever and also paying better than ever to the island's farmers. Pérez also observes that there are more and more young people working in the field and a significant growth in wine tourism.
- In the last harvest, the kilo of Malvasia was paid at three euros when the previous year it was paid around 2 euros. Do you think the price of grapes will continue to rise?
If it keeps rising, we could die of success, we have to have our feet on the ground. We all want it to keep rising, especially the farmers, but we have to ask ourselves if the consumer is willing to pay 40 euros for a bottle of Lanzarote wine. Currently, in restaurants, a bottle of Lanzarote wine does not go below 28 euros.
For me, the limit in this harvest should be between 3 and 3.2 euros per kilo. My personal opinion is that it should not go up. We also aspire to increase production, not because we are going to plant more, but because the grape cycle will once again allow harvests of four million kilos of grapes as we have had in the past.
"I observe that there are more and more young people who dedicate themselves to the field. The generational change has not yet been resolved, but there is a tendency."
- And what happens with the most exclusive lines of Lanzarote wine?
Of course there are more exclusive wines, the sweet wines, the champagnes, the solera wines, maybe a red wine that has been aged in barrels… But a dry volcanic Malvasia wine can no longer be found in restaurants for less than 28 euros when it leaves the winery at 12 or 14 euros.
- How much does the most expensive bottle of Lanzarote wine cost and how much does the cheapest bottle cost?
The most expensive are usually the sweet wines, because they are smaller bottles and it takes longer to get them to market, they can be close to 100 euros per bottle. The cheapest are usually the dry white Malvasia wines.
"From next year we will see how much new vineyard has been planted"
- Has the rise in prices caused an increase in the area of vineyards cultivated on the island?
The new areas have not yet been registered in the Regulatory Council, because it is done two years after being planted. As of today, the registered area has practically not changed compared to previous years, it is 1,857 hectares. From next year we will see how much new vineyard has been planted.
On the other hand, we must not only read how many new plantations there are, we must also see what is being abandoned. There are many vineyards in abandonment because there is no restructuring aid for vineyards, so people are ultimately trying to find plots that are much easier to cultivate to make that new vineyard.
- In the last harvest, two million kilos of grapes were harvested, what is the ideal amount to satisfy the demand for Lanzarote wine?
Here we have to be talking about harvests of more than 2.5 million kilos. From there, everything that comes is well received. But if we found two consecutive harvests of more than 3.5 million kilos of grapes, we may find ourselves in a situation again in which the market is not able to absorb all the wine from the wineries.
"Despite being a fairly warm island, what surprises people is that we get such a fresh wine in the mouth"
We would have to see how the market behaves. We do not have the same reality as 10 years ago when grapes had to be thrown away, our wines now have significant export levels that did not exist a decade ago.
There are many markets that wineries are opening and maintaining. So probably the island itself would not be able to absorb the entire harvest, but it could be done through export. The wineries have made a lot of investment in personnel and equipment to have our wines well positioned.
- Does the EU not limit the hectares of vineyard?
No, in Lanzarote, no, because we do not have those problems of surplus harvest. Europe has limited new plantations in some designations of origin such as Rioja.
- In the microphones of Radio Lanzarote, the CEO of Spel, Héctor Fernández, said a few months ago that wine culture tourism had increased a lot, what sensations do you have in this regard?
Tourism has the data, but we do know that, for example, Bodega La Geria is one of the most visited in Spain, although they have been for some time. We have noticed that we receive more emails saying that they want to visit a winery and asking which ones are open. We see that there is a trend.
- Lanzarote wine is very special because of the way it is produced, but are there no other volcanic islands that get similar wines?
Apart from the cultivation, the key is our variety, that is, the volcanic Malvasia, which has characteristics that make it different due to its freshness. That acidity with the balanced point of freshness. Despite being a fairly warm island, what surprises people is that we get such a fresh wine in the mouth.
So it is not only that we have a volcanic wine, but that we have the perfect symbiosis of territory and grape variety.
"Until 2012 we had 16 wineries and since 2012 until now another 16 have been registered".
- Lanzarote wines are winning more and more awards and gold medals every year, what do you think is the reason?
The wineries are investing both in technology and in professionals, and in the end that means that we are at the forefront and we bring those gold medals.
It is also true that there are more wineries, and therefore, they go to more competitions. There are small wineries such as Martinón, Malpaís de Máguez, La Grieta, Lágrima de Malvasía… that are also in the spotlight. It is no longer just our flagship, the El Grifo winery.
I observe that there are more and more young people who dedicate themselves to the field. The generational change has not yet been resolved, but there is a tendency.
- How many wineries are there currently on the island?
Right now we have 32 wineries registered in the designation of origin. 28 of them with wine labeled on the market. Until 2012 we had 16 wineries and since 2012 until now another 16 have been registered, the number has doubled in a decade.
