The best wines from Canary Islands in Spain

Wine growing originated in the Canary Islands in the 15th century, when Spanish and Portuguese explorers were keen to pick up a barrel. There are nine DOs on the islands. The most special islands are Tenerife and Lanzarote. Like the other islands, volcanic, but still covered in a layer of grey-black volcanic ash.

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Vine growing originated on the Canary Islands in the 15th century, when Spanish and Portuguese explorers were keen to pick up a barrel. Wine is still made here, from forgotten grapes that grow on volcanic soil.

In the late Middle Ages, the Canary Islands were a famous wine region. The English in particular loved to drink the so-called Canary Sack, at that time mainly sweet and oxidised quality wines. In Shakespeare's Henry IV, the character Falstaff is nicknamed Sir John Canaries, because he could hardly keep his hands off it.

Lanzarote and Tenerife: Vineyards on volcanic ash

The Canary Islands are one of the few places in Europe where the phylloxera from the 19th century did not devastate the vineyards. That is why you can still find real European vines here, and why the grapes are not grafted onto American vines like elsewhere in Europe.

There are nine DOs on the islands. The most special islands are Tenerife and Lanzarote. Like the other islands, volcanic, but still covered with a layer of grey-black volcanic ash. The grape vines grow on this. The winemakers dig round pits, so-called Hoyos, with a wall around them, to protect the grapes from the hard Sahara wind.

Special grapes

You will still come across several indigenous, forgotten grape varieties. And the winemakers still make most of the wine from these. The white Listán Blanco and the red Listán Negro play the leading role, together with the Vijariego, with the blue Negramoll as its opponent. Other special varieties are Tintilla, Diego, Bujariego and Caleta. They are not easy to obtain. Almost all the wine is drunk on the islands themselves. We currently have one wines from Canary Islands in our range. You can view all our wines from Canary Islands here.