A couple of hours ago, dawn broke in the fields of Lanzarote. The vines wait, protected by the characteristic black stone walls that predominate over the island's landscape of fire. It is August 15th, a holiday throughout Spain and a day of celebrations in La Geria. It is the day of La Caridad, patron saint of the town, but it is also the grape harvest festival. The La Geria Winery opens its doors so that visitors from all over the world can participate in the most traditional grape harvest.
In the fields, sheltered from the winds, a hallmark of the islands, exuberance abounds, that of the bunches full of coveted juice, the one that feeds the pituitaries and palates of wine experts; the one that stars in romantic evenings, festive evenings in which the precious liquid runs from glass to glass, evenings in which millionaire businesses are closed.
The origin is much simpler than all the sophistication that surrounds our character, yes, a character because it is full of qualities that make it possessor of a special temperament, it is the wine of Lanzarote, in all its variants, the one that farmers, winemakers and those who keep their noses trained, know how to distinguish from among thousands.
The other world of wine has started for centuries at the crack of dawn. The old wicker baskets overflowing with bunches of grapes. The knives and scissors, sharp, and the heads covered, sheltered from the sun's rays. If you look at the horizon, few profiles are seen with straw hats, in the traditional style, profiles of men and women who will have to bend down and get up again and again, with the bunches of grapes already pruned, carefully, so as not to damage the fruit.
The silhouette of the camels in the wine-growing area is confusing, especially because now we only see them slowly traveling the circuit from which they do not deviate even a millimeter, while hundreds of tourists stroll comfortably on the sides of their hump. At this party their mission is another, the one that has been for decades, to transport the bunches, from the vines to the wineries, where this Tuesday tourists came to tread the grapes and then taste their juice, all as it was done in the past.
The 21st century harvest
The reality of the harvest every day since the first winery began collecting on August 2nd, starts at 7:00 sharp in the morning. The harvesters approach the vines to begin the earliest harvest in all of Spain. Even for that the island is different, its grapes are ripe before any other in the entire territory. First all the white grapes will be pruned, the famous Malvasia from which most of the island's white wines are made. Until all the Malvasia vines are free of fruit, the black grape is not cut, the one that is improved year after year to give quality to Lanzarote's red wines.
Surplus of grapes
This year the grape harvest will reach figures similar to those of last year. The four million kilos of grapes are assured, a situation that will once again generate a surplus, which the island's 17 wineries do not have the capacity to assume. "There are many winegrowers who do not know where to place the grapes", this is how Manuel Díaz Rijo expressed his concern. Winemaker for 33 years, winner this year of the Silver Bunch and Honorary Member of the Regulatory Council of the Designation of Origin "Lanzarote", the "Mozaga" society that he founded together with other winegrowers, was the first winery "to put the wine in a bottle", the designation of origin, for which his group fought, would come later.
For Manuel Díaz Rijo, the inability of the wineries to assume such a quantity of grapes, "is not a storage problem, the problem is that the market has been loosening due to the arrival of less tourism with high purchasing power". Wine consumption, according to Díaz Rijo, has been decreasing in Lanzarote. The "all inclusive" offered more and more by the island's hotels, does not make it easy for tourists to pay more to enjoy a local wine with designation of origin.
Miguel Martín, president of the Regulatory Council of the Designation of Origin, has a somewhat different conception of the problem. He believes that there are wineries willing to assume the grapes that are obtained from the conejeras vines, but "they are having many problems with the Environment to store the grapes." Miguel Martín is also a winemaker, he recently became the majority shareholder of Bodegas Mozaga and is convinced that "there are many wineries that want to expand their facilities and store the grapes to produce wines of increasing quality."
The most important agricultural sector in Lanzarote is vineyards. There are 17 wineries of different importance that make wines with the juice of the 17,000 vineyards spread throughout the island. With about four million kilos of grapes produced, the president of the Regulatory Council calculates that the sector contributes something more than six million euros a year to the economy of Lanzarote.
Although the Regulatory Council assures that Lanzarote's white wines are recognized worldwide, their commercialization outside the Canary Islands does not exceed 100,000 bottles each year. Manuel Rijo believes that the main obstacle is the cost of grape production on the island, which makes its price go up, "we pay for the grapes at an average of 1.5 euros per kilo, in the Peninsula it is paid much less." To this factor is added the cost of transport and double insularity, which "makes it very difficult to compete with the wines of the peninsula."
Despite these obstacles, the Canary Island wines play with factors that make them rising values. The usual mild climate throughout the year is joined by the volcanic terrain on which it is cultivated, about 350 meters above sea level, which makes it ripen very early. In addition, Díaz Rijo recalls that "they are centuries-old vineyards, a quality factor."
