One of the more unexpected things on a dry, volcanic island like Lanzarote are the vineyards. The hills in the La Geria region are dotted with semi-circle stone walls, each housing a struggling vine planted in volcanic ash.
It’s a fine line between struggling vines and dead ones and these folks know how to toe that line. Most of the wines are made from the Malvasia grape, which was mentioned in numerous works by Shakespeare centuries ago. The whites tend to be quite acidic so Eric was having an awesome time; a much different experience from the low acid wines of Hungary earlier in the year!
Bodegas Stratvs – Our first winery of the day, and we enjoyed our tasting enough to bring home a bottle of the Malvasia Seco. The pours were generous for the 1-2 Euro tasting per glass. Luckily we found seats at the bar, but there is also a shaded patio out front.
our wine flight for 5E
Wine Reviews: Malvissia seco – mild raisin, high acidity, very bright. Light colored; Rosado – berry scent, strawberry, med dry, med alcohol. No oak flavor. Good body; Tinto – light and fruity, good pizza wine; Crianza – robust and dry, old world style red; Malvissia dulce – burnt toffee, and sugar nose. Apple and brandy flavor, lingering sweetness
On our final day on the island we returned, this time for a snack on our way to the airport to fly to Berlin. Service was a bit slow, but the wrinkled potatoes and cheese selections were tasty.
papas arrugadas with red and green sauce
Bodega La Querencia – a small, family run winery. Tasting was free and the wines were unusual, especially the rose with lots of acid and toffee. They bottle the wine when you buy and the bottles have no label! A fun experience with a friendly proprietor. Didn’t get the feeling that English is spoken well here but we had two Spanish speakers with us and I could understand most everything that was said. :)
Wine Reviews: Blanco– very light scent. Light color and body, cinnamon and brandy; Rosado– tart fruit (dried) scent. Lemon, cognac, coffee, very tart and a little bitter. Unlike any rose we’ve tried (we bought a bottle of this one for 10E); Dulce– very toffee, butterscotch and light coffee, a little sweet for us.
Bodega El Chupadero – Our final wine stop on day one, where we also had a snack of peppers and enjoyed the view from their patio. The bartender was generous in pouring a few wines for us to try before we decided on what glass we wanted. Eric went with the blue bottle (we also bought one of these to take home) and I went with the slightly sweeter green bottle. Both were malvesia seco wines.
pimientos de padrón (never had a spicy one!)
Even though we were covered for meals at the resort, we did occasionally have a snack when we were out exploring. We nibbled on some traditional appetizers at the Museo Internacional de Arte restaurant in Arrecife (below left) and sampled the pimientos at Casa Luis in El Golfo along with a cool glass of seco (below right).
tasty bites
We definitely recommend renting a car and trying some of the wine on Lanzarote!