D.O. Lanzarote Wine Region

Introduction to the Lanzarote Wine Region

Welcome to the Lanzarote wine region, a distinctive viticultural area located on the easternmost island of the Canary archipelago of Spain. Known for its volcanic landscape and desert-like climate, this region is celebrated under the Denomination of Origin “Lanzarote.” Here, local wineries excel in producing wines with a unique volcanic-mineral flavor and notable acidity, making the most of the area’s special edaphic-climatic conditions.

The Tradition of Viticulture in Lanzarote

Lanzarote’s wine production is deeply rooted in traditional methods. Vines are carefully planted in shallow, ash-filled pits to protect them from relentless winds and to help retain moisture. This labor-intensive process highlights the reliance on manual farming techniques necessitated by the challenging terrain.

Principal Grape Varieties and Wine Profiles

The dominant grape in the region, Malvasía Volcánica, thrives under these tough conditions, producing wines that truly embody the island’s distinct terroir. Other varieties, such as Listán Blanco and Negramoll, contribute to a portfolio of wines renowned for their mineral and fruity notes.

Join us as we delve deeper into the Lanzarote wine region, exploring the landscape, techniques, and flavors that make this area a fascinating destination for wine lovers worldwide.

Wine Description

White Wine (Vino Blanco)

Discover the clarity and brightness of Lanzarote’s White Wines, varying from straw yellow to greenish hues. These wines are celebrated for their medium-intensity fruit and floral aromas, offering a refreshing palate with a lasting impression.

Rosé Wine (Vino Rosado)

Rosé wines from Lanzarote captivate with their clear and vivid appearance, ranging from onion skin to raspberry rose colors, and occasionally showing purplish edges. Enjoy the balanced taste and medium-intensity fruity aromas that finish with a delightful fruity note.

Red Wine (Vino Tinto)

Experience the vibrant clarity and rich hues of Lanzarote’s Red Wines, spanning purple, ruby, garnet, and cherry. These wines are noted for blending fruity or floral notes with a mineral background, providing a smooth, light, and persistently pleasant flavor on the palate.

Overripe Grape Wine (Vino de Uva Sobremadurada)

Overripe Grape Wines stand out with their bright and clear appearance, displaying golden yellow for white varieties and intense purple for red varieties. Known for their high aromatic intensity, these wines deliver a rich, unctuous, and distinctly fruity flavor.

Liquor Wine (Vino de Licor) or Fortified Wine

Lanzarote’s Fortified Wines vary in color from straw yellow to amber for whites, and from onion skin to raspberry rose with purplish edges for rosés and reds. These wines are characterized by mature, overripe, and candied fruit flavors with floral notes, creating a dense, tasty, and complex profile.

Sparkling Wine (Vino Espumoso)

Enjoy the clear appearance and fine, consistent bubble flow of Lanzarote’s Sparkling Wines. These wines emit clean aromas of fresh fruit and white flowers, occasionally accompanied by bakery notes, offering a pleasant, fine, and elegant flavor.

Quality Sparkling Wine (Vino Espumoso de Calidad)

Quality Sparkling Wines share characteristics with standard sparkling wines but adhere to higher quality standards and specific production processes. This ensures an elevated experience, marked by refined flavors and a luxurious effervescence.

Each type of wine from the Lanzarote wine region not only showcases its own distinct identity but also embodies the adaptation of traditional viticulture to the challenging conditions of Lanzarote, making each sip a testament to the region’s unique viticultural heritage.

Winemaking and Viticulture Practices

The Lanzarote wine region follows different winemaking and viticulture practices to preserve the quality and authenticity of its wines, guided by the Denomination of Origin (DO) standards. These practices, which range from grape handling to bottling, help ensure the character of the region’s wines.

Selective Harvesting: Harvesting in Lanzarote is selective, targeting only healthy grape bunches that meet specific natural alcohol levels. These levels are set at 10.5% vol for white, rosé, red, and sparkling wines; 12% vol for liquor wines; and 16% vol for overripe grape wines, ensuring a consistent quality across the wine types.

Local Processing: All stages of winemaking, from fermentation to bottling, occur within designated facilities on Lanzarote. This practice ensures traceability and adherence to DO standards, crucial for maintaining the region’s winemaking integrity.

Quality Assurance: The region enforces controls from harvest to bottling, including analytical and organoleptic testing to assess grape quality. Wines meeting these standards are certified, recognizable by a numbered counter-label and a distinctive mark on bottles, confirming the wine’s quality and origin.

Viticulture

Vineyards are carefully positioned in areas layered with volcanic sand to protect the vines from constant winds. A notable practice is the cultivation of vines in pits or craters, known locally as “enarenado.” This technique shields plants from the wind and enhances moisture retention using layers of volcanic ash.

Viticulture in Hollows (Hoyos) and Trenches (Zanjas)

• Hoyos: Vines are planted in deep pits filled with volcanic ash to reach fertile soil underneath. They are protected by semi-circular walls of volcanic rocks that shield from wind and capture moisture.
• Zanjas: In areas like Tinajo and Haría, where volcanic ash layers are thinner, vines are planted in trenches to better utilize limited resources.

These viticulture practices are crucial for adapting to the challenging conditions of Lanzarote’s volcanic landscape, ensuring the survival of vines and the production of high-quality wines that reflect the unique terroir of the region. By integrating traditional methods with innovative adaptations, the Lanzarote wine region continues to cultivate distinctive and celebrated wines.

Wine Classification and Labelling

Navigating wine labels from the Lanzarote wine region can greatly enhance your selection process, allowing you to choose wines that best match your taste preferences and appreciation for quality. Here’s how you can interpret the essential elements on these labels.

Aging Classification: Terms like “Añejo,” “Crianza,” “Gran Reserva,” “Noble,” “Reserva,” and “Viejo” indicate the duration and conditions under which the wine was aged, offering clues about the complexity and maturity of the flavors.

Sweetness Level: Particularly on labels of sparkling wines, terms such as “brut nature,” “extra brut,” and “dulce” describe the residual sugar content, helping consumers anticipate the sweetness of the wine.

Tips for Reading a Wine Label

When examining a wine label from the Lanzarote wine region, consider these tips to make informed choices:

• Look for the Designation of Origin: Identifying “Denominación de Origen Lanzarote” on the label confirms the wine’s certification and authenticity.
• Check the Aging Classification: Terms like “Crianza,” “Reserva,” or “Gran Reserva” help you understand the wine’s aging process and what to expect in terms of complexity and flavor maturity.
• Understand the Sweetness Level: This is especially useful for sparkling wines to gauge how sweet the wine will taste.
• Note Unique Qualities: Labels may highlight special techniques or unique grape varieties used in production, providing further insight into the wine’s character.
• Assess Vintage Year and Alcohol Content: The vintage year can affect the taste and quality of the wine, while the alcohol content provides information about the wine’s strength and potential flavor profile.

By following these guidelines, you’ll be better equipped to select wines that not only meet your taste preferences but also give you a deeper appreciation for the characteristics of wines from the Lanzarote wine region.

Grape Varieties

The Lanzarote wine region hosts an array of grape varieties. These grapes are classified into two primary groups: white and red.

White Grape Varieties in the Lanzarote Wine Region

White grapes in Lanzarote are divided into preferred or recommended varieties and those that are authorized.

Preferred White Grapes

• Malvasía Volcánica: Characterized by round, speckled grapes, this variety is aromatic with fruity notes. It is typically harvested from late July to early August and is sensitive to powdery mildew.
• Moscatel de Alejandría: Known for its large, oval grapes and elongated clusters, this grape is aromatic with muscat flavors and is a late ripener, usually harvested in early September.
• Vijariego Blanco (Diego): Features intense green leaves and reddish shoots, producing large clusters and voluminous grapes. It is very disease-resistant and typically harvested at the end of September.
• Additional White Grapes: Albillo, Güal and Verdello.

Authorized White Grapes

• Burrablanca
• Breval
• Listán Blanco de Canarias
• Pedro Ximénez
• Torrontés

Red Grape Varieties in the Lanzarote Wine Region

Red grapes in Lanzarote are also categorized into preferred or recommended and authorized varieties.

Preferred Red Grapes

• Listán Negro (Almuñeco): Drought-resistant and relatively disease-resistant, this grape shows upright growth and long tendrils, with medium-sized, compact clusters.
• Additional Red Grapes: Negramoll, Malvasía Rosada and Tintilla.

Authorized Red Grapes

• Bastardo Negro (Baboso Negro)
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Merlot
• Moscatel Negro
• Pinot Noir
• Ruby Cabernet
• Syrah
• Tempranillo
• Vijariego Negro

By familiarizing yourself with these white and red grape varieties, you can better appreciate the distinctive wines produced in the Lanzarote wine region.

The Zub-Zones of Lanzarote Wine Region

The Lanzarote wine region can be segmented into distinct geographical sub-zones, each showcasing unique viticultural practices and landscape features that influence the character of the wines produced.

La Geria

La Geria is a key sub-zone located between the municipalities of Yaiza and Tías. This area is known for its thick layer of lapilli or picón, which can reach up to three meters in depth in some locations. Due to the substantial depth of volcanic ash, the planting density here is lower compared to other parts of the island. Vines are primarily planted in hollows (hoyos) that penetrate the ash to reach fertile soil below, aiding moisture retention and offering protection from the wind.

Masdache

Masdache, positioned between the municipalities of Tías and San Bartolomé, also adopts the hoyos method of viticulture. However, the picón layer in Masdache is thinner than in La Geria, influencing slightly different viticultural practices that may allow for higher planting densities.

Tinajo

Tinajo utilizes trenches (zanjas) for vine cultivation, particularly effective in areas with a thinner layer of picón. This cultivation method is tailored to the area’s specific soil conditions and exposure, optimizing the use of available fertile soil and conserving moisture efficiently.

Ye-Lajares

Ye-Lajares, within the municipality of Haría, is noted for its very low production levels, attributed to soil characteristics less favorable for high yields.

Geography and Climate

The Lanzarote wine region is influenced by its distinctive geography and climate, factors that are pivotal in shaping its viticulture and the unique characteristics of its wines.

Impact of Geography and Altitude on Viticulture

Lanzarote’s vineyards are placed at altitudes ranging from 100 to 500 meters above sea level. This range in elevation creates varied microclimates across the region, influencing the grape ripening process.

Climate Influences on Wine Characteristics

Lanzarote experiences a sub-desert climate, with conditions that significantly shape the wine production:

• Annual Rainfall: The region receives less than 150 mm of rain annually, creating a challenging environment for vine growth due to limited natural water availability.
• Temperature Variation: The area is known for its significant diurnal temperature shifts, which can be up to 17°C between day and night. These fluctuations are crucial as they slow the maturation process, helping preserve the grapes’ vital acids which contribute to the freshness and crispness of the wines.
• Wind Influence: The presence of strong N-NE winds, particularly during the summer, requires the use of windbreaks to protect the vines. These winds also help moderate temperatures and transport sea moisture, which is effectively retained by the volcanic soil.
• Humidity: With an average annual relative humidity of 69%, largely due to ocean proximity, the ambient moisture, particularly morning dew, is essential for vine survival. It mitigates the impact of the dry climate, helping sustain vine growth under harsh conditions.

The interaction between the geography and climate of Lanzarote plays an integral role in the cultivation of vines and the quality of the wines produced.

Sources

1. Lanzarote Wine Region. Official website of the Denomination of Origin Lanzarote, providing detailed information about the region’s distinct wine varieties, viticultural practices, and compliance with quality standards. Accessed May, 2024. https://dolanzarote.com/en/.
2. Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Official government portal offering comprehensive insights into agricultural policies, regional agricultural data, and viticulture regulations in Spain. Accessed May, 2024. https://www.mapa.gob.es/en/.