Wine trade in the Canary Islands Ancient Greek people exported their passion for the wine and how to grow it to the Mediterranean countries. As the Greek city-states established colonies throughout the Mediterranean, the settlers brought grapevines with them and were active in cultivating the wild vines they encountered. Wine historians have theorized that the Greeks may have introduced viticulture to Spain and Portugal. The first grape fruit plants arrived on the island in the XV century with the Spanish conquerors and European colonizers, and thanks to the variety of its origins, the best wine stocks were introduced in the Canaries from Europe, which explains the variety richness existing on the islands. The privileged geographical situation of the Canaries, as a joining point of three continents, favoured merchants, pirates and adventurers to discover and spread the delights of the Canarian wines. Particularly outstanding was the delicious Malmsey (Malvasía) wine. Between the XVI and the XVII centuries the Canarian wines and vines played a fundamental role in both the economy and society of the islands, specially in the second half of the 16th century, with the sugar crisis. Since this time the Canaries exported its famous “Canary Wine” to England, and between the XVII and the XVIII the Canary wines reached their maximal splendour by exporting them to various continents. The Canary wines became the most important source of richness on the islands over three centuries. The Malmsey wine, considered the best in the world, was a luxury product that was served in the tables of the main European monarchies and could be found in the best cellars of both the Old and the New World, with "Sack" and "Canary" becoming the flagships of Canary Island wines. The prestige of this variety was such, that historians and writers of the time made many references to Canary wine. Shelley, Keats, Góngora, Walter Scott and those made by Sir William Shakespeare through his different characters and literary descriptions, mainly through Falstaff, who he calls the "barrel of Canary", and Sir Walter Scott in "Ivanhoe". The following is a quote from Shakespeare´s "Henry IV part II" - act 2, scene 4 - when Mistress Quickly says to Doll Tearsheet: "But i faith, you have drunk too much canaries and that´s a marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood ere one can say: What´s this?". Shakespeare makes other references in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Twelfth Night", in which Sir Tobias asks Sir Andrew Aguecheek: "O Knight! Thou lackest a cup of Canary?..." And Keats: “Have ye tippled drink more fine” Than mine host’s Canary wine?” In 1797 after Sir Horatio Nelson’s failed plunder of Santa Cruz, peace treaties was signed between the British and Spanish gentlemen of honour. Gifts were exchanged, Sir Nelson’s offerings were of cheese and beer and the Spanish offered Tenerife Malmsey. The famous German naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt was also impressed by yhe majesty of the Tenerife vineyards during his stay on the island in 1799,and this can be read in his book "Journey to the Canary Islands": "...From Tegueste and Tacoronte to the Town of San juan de la Rambla, which is famous for its excellent Malmsey wine, the coast is cultivates like a garden..."
English shipping laws of the late 17th century, giving protection to Portuguese wines, and the Spanish War of Succession in the early 18th century had a negative impact on foreign trade in Malmsey wine, leading to considerable losses in comparison with earlier times. Canary wine merchants responded to the crisis by exporting "vidueĂąo" wines and "false Madeiras", taking advantage of the fashion for this wine, managing to penetrate the English and English American markets. This explains why red wine grape varieties were brought to the Canary Islands in the 18th century, necessary for producing this kind of wine. During the XIX century the export of the Canarian wines started to decline due to legal custom and commercial tensions with Great Britain. The volcanic eruption in 1706 that ended with the town of Garachico, the main exporting port of the Canary wines, and the devastating plagues of OĂdio and Mildiu in the XIX century put an end to this magnificent trade. Now, many years after all these historic and commercial ups and downs, the wines of Tenerife are regaining their own personality. Nowadays the Canarian wines have recovered their splendorous past and the Canaries continue being a exceptional viticulture reserve that counts on more than 15,000 hectares of cultivated wine yards classified in several marks of origin.
The wine routes The different varieties of grapes, mainly white grapes, gave a generous, or strong wines, which soon became a favorite trading cargo. The wine trade with Europe was essentially based on Malmsey, with most of the cargo going to the ports of London and Antwerp but also to other shipments were often sent to other European markets too. These wines were paid for with luxury merchandise and manufactures goods. A single word acted as a certificate of guarantee to define superior quality and origin: Sack of Canary The Canary Islands were a necessary port of call for conquering and settling the Americas and right from the beginning, wine from the Canary islands went with the settlers as there were no vineyards on the other side of the Atlantic. Large quantities of wine were needed by the new settlers and the easiest way was to supply the market from Tenerife. Caracas, La Guaira, Maracaibo and Santo Domingo were the destination of some of these sea crossings, along with the Portuguese, Dutch and English colonies. Later on, Malmsey wines were to occupy an extraordinary position of privilege in the trade.
The wine ports During some time Tenerife had several ports. One, very narrow on entering although with room for many ships, Port of Garachico. and another with similar circumstances, poor natural conditions but in a rich agricultural district, Port of La Orotava, that was one of the leading ports of the islands in the latter half of the XVII century and the early XVIII century. The destruction of the port of Garachico enhanced the position of La Orotava in the wine trade. The wine growing area of Santa Cruz was poor, but, at this time, its port started to become important for the island, so it gradually became the main port for exporting Tenerife wine.
Tenerife Wines The main characteristic that we can find in the wine elaboration is the wide variety of grapes that are cultivated on the island, due to the climate, the temperature, the humidity, the trade winds and the volcanic grounds. The northern part of the island has the biggest stock of varieties of wine on the island and the most cultivated surfaces on the island. The wine yards are cultivated between 300 and 750 m. in middle high areas. The major production is red wine. In the north east we can find an area of small famous wine cellars with the Teide volcano as background. The wine yards grow between 50 and 1.500 m. of altitude. They elaborate excellent white wines, tasteful rosè wines and delicious red wines. In the oriental southern part of the island of Tenerife, between 250 and 1.600m. of altitude, we find another area of elaboration of white, young and fresh wines. The wine yards in the south, are the sunniest and with less rainfall on the island and are situated on the hillsides of the Teide volcano, between 400 and 1.700 m. high above sea level. They mainly produce white wines, but also red and rosè wines. The elaboration of the Tenerife wines is divided along the island into marks of origin. Since the end of the year 2000, Tenerife wines have been awarded prizes and award winners in many local, national and international exhibitions. The Canary Islands are qualified as a paradise of wine and grape growing, and enjoy a fantastic present and a splendid future. The Tenerife wines are gaining adepts with a vertiginous rhythm.
D.O.P. (Protected Designation of Origin Quality Wines of the Canary Islands) This is the most recent designation to be added to the existing ones. As its name would indicate, it produces quality wines using fruit from any of the vine-growing areas of the Canaries.
Height viticulture The diverse existing altitude contrasts in Tenerife allows growing grape plants in the lower areas and coast up to the middle and mountain tops, between 50 and 1.700 m. of altitude. The high viticulture is becoming more significant to elaborate better quality wines. In the Tenerife viticulture, plants are cultivated at out of common altitudes, finding grape plants above 1.000 m. of altitude, with the importance that this means for the elaboration of quality wines. The main benefit that the high altitude viticulture provides is a certain refreshing effect that increases the acidity level thanks to the thermal oscillations between day and night. Under these conditions the ripening in the night freshness takes place very slowly, improving the accumulation of the aromatic taste and flavour, developing an increase of aroma and taste in the fruit itself. During the day, and due to the sunshine, the radiations are more intense and help to realize the photosynthesis, which increases the colouring of the grapes and reaches the proper alcoholic graduation, achieving colour, good acidity level and aroma of the wine. The viticulture in Tenerife at higher than 1.500m. is usual, and because it is viticulture of rigorous dryness, the altitude is the main quality factor in the elaboration of fresh, alive and intense aromatic wines. In its viticulture it is the outstanding the different altitudes that little places have, where the historic wine yards of exotic and old wine yards have survived thanks to the insularity. The altitude seems to affect the life of wine, once it is bottled. Wines that are kept in high altitudes are generally more elegant and soft, and in case of red wines they seem to be smoother. The highest viticulture area in Tenerife is about 1.700 m. above the sea level.
Exquisite wines In the Canaries, varieties of grapes and berries have survived that are extinguished in the rest of the world. An important part of the viticulture inheritance in Spain, perhaps the most exotic, is found in the Canary Islands, where varieties of berries or grapes have survived, that are not found anywhere else, because the Canarian plantations were not affected by the filoxera disease, a plague that devastated the wine yards in Europe and rest of the world at the end of the XIX and beginning of the XX centuries. The conjunction of the climate variety and volcanic grounds are favourable for the production of aromatic and tasty wines. Outstanding are, among others, some vines that are considered native because they are preserved since the colonization time due to the absence of filoxera. The most widespread native varieties are Listán Noir, giving the wines rich primary aromas; Negramoll, which gives dry, light smooth and rounded wines, and Listán Blanc, which blends well with the other varieties. Other varieties, such as Malmsey, Gual, Tintillo, Forastera and Moscatel are also grown, but to a much lesser extent.
Wine cellars The visits of cellars are nearly a “must”, due to the important tradition existing since the XV century. Nowadays marks of origin of the island offer the possibility to visit cellars, where the most advanced technologies and the traditions are mixed, which allows the obtention of excellent wines capable to compete with the best wines in the world. A wide range of techniques and machinery have been used in making quality wines, from the traditional grape treading in vats and the oak barrels to the modern pneumatic presses and the stainless steel tanks.
ARTICLE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES ABOUT OUR WINES