Bodegas El Grifo: More Than Two Centuries of History
Discover the oldest winery on the Canary Islands, and learn how they produce impossible wines on volcanic mountainsides.
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Between 1730 and 1736, the violent eruptions in the Timanfaya volcanic area led to the destruction of the best crop-growing land on Lanzarote. The lava and ash destroyed a quarter of this island in the Canary archipelago, and triggered a social catastrophe which led to half of the island's population emigrating.
VineyardsCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
Before that, there were hardly any grapevines planted on the island. But just a few years later, the volcanic ash created the conditions for a new agriculture. The islanders knew that the small volcanic rocks offered excellent insulation, as they kept the heat out while maintaining the humidity. The fields of cereal crops were repurposed for grapevines, and that was how La Geria wine came into being.<br>
"The profound, indescribable pleasure of walking through these deserted, windswept fields, taking your shirt off to feel the furious churning of air against your skin, your spirit enters a trance-like state, it swells, it inflates, it could burst with happiness. What else is there to do but sob?"
José Saramago, Lanzarote Notebooks (Cadernos de Lanzarote).
La GeriaCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
La Geria, a major player in the grape harvest in Lanzarote, is a national park located atop the lava flow from Timanfaya, where the black of the ash contrasts with the green of the vines. A protected natural landscape and a balanced ecosystem sustained by a family tradition of viticulture.
El Grifo: A traditional winery
We spoke to Juan Jesús Martín Feo, manager of El Grifo winery, one of the five oldest vineyards in Spain still in operation. Inaugurated in 1775, this winery is dedicated to the production of this impossible wine in the area of La Geria.
GrapevineCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
What is so special about the vineyards of La Geria?
“The idiosyncrasy of the wineries of Lanzarote is the method by which they grow the volcanic malvasia grape. In Lanzarote, the cultivation of grapes, and vines, started with a volcanic eruption. Our ancestors knew how to capitalize on something so destructive.”
Pit cultivation methodCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
"There are two cultivation methods in Lanzarote: the pit system, and the trench system. In the first, the viticulturist digs a pit in the surface of the charcoal (small volcanic rocks) to access the topsoil beneath, and plant one to three vines. These pits are protected from the wind by semi-circular stone walls. In the case that trenches can be dug, the protective walls are linear, allowing for a higher density of planting."
Grapevine fieldCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
“The charcoal layer is infertile; however, it is an impermeable covering that retains the ambient humidity overnight, and filters that to the earth, as well as preventing evaporation during the day. This is extremely valuable in a place like Lanzarote, where not much rain falls.” The ash also traps the humidity from oceanic winds and insulates the roots of the vine.
The result is an incredible mosaic giving La Geria an unequalled landscape, as well as guaranteeing the best grapes (volcanic malvasia) year in year out, which end up in the spectacular wines of Lanzarote.
ViticulturistCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
Heroic viticulture in a ruthless landscape
At El Grifo winery, more than half of the grapes used in the production of their wines come from the pits. In order to achieve those numbers, the winery works with and purchases grapes from around 160 local viticulturists.
ViticulturistCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
“It is hard and demanding work, as all the harvesting is done by hand. Generational succession is a real problem now, because the younger generations don't want to work in viticulture. La Geria is losing its traditional workers, and this is a fundamental problem when it comes to securing our future.”
GrapevineCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
Jesús believes that wine producers are also landscape gardeners. It is this community that gives La Geria its characteristic appearance, through the skills learned from their parents and grandparents. The arrival of tourists, who come to admire the landscape, is an opportunity to capture a complementary source of income. This will ensure the profitability of these long-suffering crops, in the search for the balance that will preserve the fragile ecosystem.
Women: The key to El Grifo
In a matriarchal society such as the Canaries, women have played a pivotal role in El Grifo. Over its two centuries of history, the winery has belonged mostly to women, who also ran the business without supervision.
For almost one hundred years, before the property passed to the third and current family owners, two women managed El Grifo. From 1880, it was run by Manuela García Parrilla and Antonia Rodríguez Bethencourt, grandmother and mother, respectively, of the current owners, brothers Juan José and Fermín Otamendi.
Wine glassesCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
Wines achieving greater recognition
The 1980s marked a turning point in the viticulture of Lanzarote: wineries began to turn professional, wine experts arrived, a wine culture was created, and there was a clear effort to make improvements. “Today's techniques provide a framework that has enabled Lanzarote's viticulture to aim higher, little by little.”
Bodegas el GrifoCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
Today, El Grifo employs around 25 people, half of whom work in a wine tourism project established on the early winery premises. It was a friend of the family, the Canarian artist César Manrique, who encouraged them to preserve the old buildings and turn them into the Wine Museum (Museo del Vino), and to build the new winery next door, in 1981.
El GrifoCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
Manrique left his mark on the winery's corporate identity, and on the building's entrance. He would also inadvertently become the first person to export their wines to Germany, where he accompanied them during their first exhibitions in the 1980s.
"El Grifo" dry wineCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
The most recognizable wine produced by El Grifo is the award-winning Malvasía Seco Colección (Malvasia Dry Collection). They are also working on a wine with a longer shelf life, which would last at least five or six years. “Wines for aging help you to stay on top of peaks in production, which occur between harvests.”
Viñedos El GrifoCámaras de Comercio de Canarias
What are El Grifo's plans for the future?
“We want to grow the wine tourism sector, as well as focus on producing more selective and special wines. We want to work on the experience of tasting wines that are connected to the land, that you can only find here.”
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