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“Each bottle reveals in its light the story of the people who took care of the vineyard under the sun or in the mist.”
The gesture of opening a bottle of Gran Canaria wine reveals at the same time the end and the beginning of a story. Es, on the one hand, the outcome of a great collective work. This is because each bottle reveals in its light the story of the people who took care of the vineyard under the sun or in the mist., at the bottom of the crater or on the slope, with a care that resembles that which we reserve for our most loved ones.
It also talks about those who worked hard to care for the grapes to obtain the best version of them.. Y, even if it lasts just a moment, each sip is testimony of a time, the registration of a full year and, definitely, the memory of the earth, with its rains and droughts.
Especially in the case of territories like our island, each barrel has been kept inside, like a spell that never ceases to amaze us, the reflection of the distinctive features of Gran Canaria. Not in vain, Island wines translate the wide climatic variety into their language of aromas, landscape and ethnography of Gran Canaria.
They also express the earth, which is faithfully portrayed by the presence of ungrafted vineyards that allow the different varieties to drink from the strong volcanic character of the soil.. We also perceive the serene and the saltpeter; the flower and the wood; legacy and innovation; the sound of the coast or the irrigation canal; the heat of the southern ravine and the breeze that threads through the crests of the summit.
The writer Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that “wine is bottled poetry.”. Those of us who are aware of its history clearly understand the importance of wine as a cultural manifestation and its essential role in the protection of the territory and biodiversity as well as for the strength of the primary sector.. A wine is born and reborn when you taste it. Your end is your new beginning. And it is precisely at this point where I want to place the beginning of the story and its projection into the future..
At the time of toasting the new harvest in company, We always live in an almost magical moment, but above all I want to invite reflection, because we will verify once again that identity, Sustainable development and food sovereignty fit perfectly within the limits of the cup that we will have in our hands..
When we raise the same glasses, we can remember the verses of John Keats in his poem about the Mermaid Tavern, in which it is asked if there could be wines finer than those from the Canary Islands. Shakespeare also praised them in literary fragments that hang on the walls of some wineries in Gran Canaria..
However, we are aware that the sector faces important challenges and that wines ferment in sacrifice., sweat and, sometimes, also in frustration. Even so, may reduce the quantity of production but not its quality, nor the increase in the cultivated area.
In the same way, We know that the collaboration between the Cabildo and the entire sector is achieving its consolidation. Proof of this is that the Insular Viticulture Development Program is allowing a sustained increase in hectares in production crystallized in 21 new hectares in the last four years until reaching more than 190 current, in a trend that differentiates us from the rest of the archipelago.
Irrigation to quench the thirst of the vineyards is a fundamental axis of our support. So, more than half of the hydraulic infrastructures executed since 2018 has been to wine-growing areas. At the moment, he 80% of the Gran Canaria vineyards have irrigation systems. In addition, The support of the Government of the island includes the promotion, specialized training, pest surveillance systems and a wide series of programs in coordination with the Regulatory Council, the Vinigrán Federation, growers, viticulturists and wineries.
All of this is translating into increasingly valued wines that are the figurehead of this ship that is moving forward with a clear direction.. And with many people rowing in the same direction, as witnessed for example by the Gran Canaria Wine Route.
The last milestone has been the authorization for the launch of the first and only nursery in the Canary Islands with the category of vine multiplier, which will allow us to deliver specimens to the field to renew and expand crops with healthy seedlings belonging to certified varieties.
The wine sector is, on the other hand, a source of pride for its ability to combine tradition and experimentation and for its desire to spread the sap of integration and equality., banishing prejudices that do not fit with the current Gran Canaria society.
The wine deserves the maximum sensitivity on the part of the local population and those who visit us. Valuing the wines of Gran Canaria is a way of taking care of our island and the people who remain attached to the land. We will also contribute to preserving unique varieties. If they disappeared, They would leave a void that could not be filled with a thousand barrels of wine.. We will fight in the process against industrial uniformity lacking nuances and personality. On the contrary, Every glass of local wine is a victory for our territory and our culture. And we owe that to full-bodied wines., but endowed above all with the soul of the people who make them possible.
“Vino, teach me the art of seeing my own history”, Borges stated. We can add that the wines of Gran Canaria also show us the way to the future..
