Alejandro Besay Felipe Muñoz from Tenerife studied Agricultural Engineering in La Laguna and oenology in Madrid. Afterwards, he visited several wine regions in France.
Despite everything he learned, when Bodegas La Geria hired him 18 years ago, he found a landscape totally different from what he had known and had to relearn many things.
In an interview on the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet, from Radio Lanzarote, he tells his journey and shares his vision on the transformation of the wine world in recent years on the island.
- What was your career path before joining Bodegas La Geria?
I am from Tenerife and as a child I had the opportunity to be at the harvest in Icod with family and friends. That's how I learned what it is to step on grapes, press, enjoy... and I got hooked. I studied agricultural engineering in La Laguna and when I finished I did an internship at Bodegas Monje.
Then I went to Madrid to study oenology and then to France to enjoy the best wines and the elaboration of the terroir. I visited the wine regions of Margaux, Medoc and Bordeaux. I returned to Tenerife and I was called from Bodegas La Geria, where I have been for 18 harvests.
- How did you find the viticulture of Lanzarote upon your arrival?
When you arrive from outside to Lanzarote you find a totally different landscape. You have to relearn many things that you have not studied, adapt to the situation of the island and its orography.
- Now people fight for Lanzarote wine, but years ago thousands of kilos were thrown away...
When I arrived in 2005 we had a great harvest, of 4 million kilos of grapes, and in 2006 as well. In the past there was also a lot of red wine. At Bodegas La Geria we managed to put all the grapes from our winegrowers and that nothing had to be thrown away, but not all the winegrowers on the island found a place at that time.
- Today nothing is thrown away and the price has also risen a lot...
The price that the grape has reached has a very nice part and another not so much. With the kilo at 3.40 euros, the work in the field is more valued, many people are planting vineyards and many lands are being recovered in Lanzarote. The other part is that with the rise in prices, sales have slowed down a little.
- What are the forecasts for this year's harvest?
This year there has been a very large drought, 60 liters only, the winter has been hot, with wind from the east and haze, so the harvest will be smaller for sure.
- Your grapes come from your own plantations and also from private winegrowers, right?
The winery has been growing. We have ten own plots. The winery is investing in a new plot in the heart of La Geria to recover sands from which ash was formerly extracted to plant onions. They will be crops in holes.
- Precisely, supporting viticulture in holes with subsidies is being debated...
Of course, it is a very big effort to plant in holes. You know it's not going to be as productive, but what it does is beautify everything around us. Some help is appearing from the Cabildo and others from outside, from protected natural areas. It is a way for La Geria to continue improving and become more and more beautiful.
- What technological innovations have there been in recent decades?
Steel tanks, for example, have made white wines have more volume, that they are longer lasting. Before the aromas decayed very quickly, after a year or two, now they can be preserved for up to five or six years in good condition.
- How is your high-end Manto La Geria wine made?
We have been separating the young vineyard from the centenary vineyard with which we elaborate Manto, the high range of the winery. It takes its name from the rofe mantle that was created after the volcanic eruption of Timanfaya, hence the new design of the bottle imitates volcanic ash. We have it dry white, semi-sweet, rosé and red.
- What role does it play in your success that the name of the winery coincides with the name of the wine region?
Everything influences. We are located in the heart of La Geria, between three volcanoes, with views of Timanfaya. It's beautiful. With social networks, the impressive photos that are taken, have contributed to the increase of visitors. 1,500 tourists come every day.
