Marcos López and Óscar Maril met as maître d' and sommelier, respectively, at a renowned luxury hotel in Lanzarote, where they noticed the interest of many high-income tourists in taking gastronomic products and handicrafts from Lanzarote as souvenirs or gifts for friends and family.
In an interview with the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, both entrepreneurs explain how the company and wine shop Winelanz was born, which prepares welcome boxes for five-star hotels in Lanzarote and other Canary Islands to treat clients with handicrafts, wine, and other island delicacies upon their arrival at the establishment.
- Before talking about Winelanz, can you briefly share your background before founding the company?
Óscar: I'm a waiter, as I say, who has moved up. I'm from Elche and I took the sommelier course there at the Chamber of Commerce. I worked in a wine distribution company and in 2019 I became the best sommelier in the Valencian Community. When I came to Lanzarote, I came second in the competition for the best sommelier in the Canary Islands.
Marcos: I grew up in Vigo, although my family is from Toledo. I had never considered working in hospitality. I worked in construction, especially in carpentry, but with the 2008 crisis, I started in hospitality, first in London and then in the United States, until my mother, who knew the island, recommended I try Lanzarote.
- How did the business idea come about?
Óscar: When cheese or jam tastings were organized at the hotel, clients would ask us where they could buy them. Many clients asked us for gift ideas to take back to their country, a little piece of the island, and we started to brainstorm how we could make that dream a reality.
- What is the name of the business?
Óscar: It's called Winelanz because the base has always been wine, and it was created to unite those small projects of wine, handicrafts, and local producers of cheese or anything related to gastronomy, to package it as a room amenity for luxury hotels.
- What is the brand's concept?
Marcos: To enhance the value of the products by telling their story. These are products that you can't easily find in large supermarkets.
We build a story around that box, depending on what the hotel wants. In fact, we design unique pieces for each hotel with local artisans and then look for the wines and products that best suit them.
Instead of the typical bottle of Moet, hotels can achieve that wow effect they seek so much in their clients upon arrival with our boxes.
- What products are found in the welcome boxes?
Oscar: In wines from Lanzarote, we mainly work with Titeroka Caet, with David Fernández, who is the youngest winemaker with his own project on the island, and with Jable de Tao.
Marcos. Apart from wine, we have olive oil from Conil, salt from Janubio, and cheeses from Femés. We also include honey, chocolates, jams…
Oscar: we also make boxes for hotels in Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife with products from each island.
- And are they also sold to the general public?
Óscar: We realized that many people had the same need but on a private level. We have examples in the Uga store for gifts, also for companies or for Christmas.
Where is the store and what are its hours?
Óscar: We are at Calle El Traspiés 1, opposite the fire brigade consortium. We are open from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM, Monday to Friday, and on Saturdays, we stay open until 4:00 PM. Until we can soon open the wine bar, which is our next step. Now we have four types of tastings so people can take a tour of the wines and products.
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