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The president of the Cabildo considers that this initiative will help to boost the hegemonic role that corresponds to the Island and its wines.

Tenerife – 30/11/2017. The island’s wine sector has started the process to request the Protected Designation of Origin for Tenerife wines. This was announced yesterday [Thursday 29]by the president of the Cabildo, Carlos Alonso, during the events on the occasion of San Andrés and the uncorking, held at the Casa del Vino.

Alonso has celebrated the initiative since “it supposes to document the feeling of most winemakers, as they have been letting us know in formal and informal meetings during many years”.

For the president, who participated in the announcement act together with the Head of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, Narvay Quintero; the insular Head of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing in Tenerife, Jesús Morales; representatives of the regulatory councils and the sector, the beginning of the procedures to create the new PDO “will contribute to boost the hegemonic role that corresponds to Tenerife in the vineyard sector in the Canary Islands”

The request has been submitted this week by the Association of Winemakers and Winegrowers of Tenerife (Viboten) to the ICCA (Institute for the Quality of the Agro-alimentary sector), dependent of the regional Government, which will then start pass the request to the national Government.

Head of Agriculture in Tenerife, Jesús Morales, highlights the fact that is the wine sector  the request is coming from: “Neither the Council of the Denomination of Origin, nor public administrations, instead producers, winemakers and winegrowers have stepped forward to create this Designation of Origen that has all the support from Cabildo”, said Morales.

Once the request has been resolved and granted the EU will then has to endorse the Designation of Origin for it to be recognised at a European level.

San Andrés Award

Francisco García, founder of Suertés del Marqués winery, was awarded with the San Andrés prize from Carlos Alonso, Head of Cabidlo. The prize rewards his contributions to the appreciation of La Orotava’s landscape, as well as his efforts to interntionaliza Tenerife wines.

Suertes del Marqués is a family based winery that started to produce in 2006, although they had been selling their grape to other wineries in La Orotava since the 80’s.

With a total of 11 hectares, placed between 350 and 700 metres above sea level and with different positions and soil compositions, they only work with winegrowers from La Orotava in a vineyard area of 17 hectares about 250 and 750 metres above sea level. That is how they manage to preserve the wine heritage from five centuries ago.

The winery mainly works with the traditional system in La Orotava, known as “cordon trenzado”, and exclusively using local grapes.

Suertes del Marqués exports about 90% of their production to 25 countries in four continents. Countries such as Japan, Australia, Thailand, France, Italy, Rusia or the United States import these wines.

Suertes del Marqués wines are highly rated in the main specialized guides, such as Jancis Robinon, Peñín or Parker, with a punctuation of over 90 points in all vintages. Decanter, Noble Rot Magazine, Sobremesa and newspaper such as Financial Times, Irish Times, Daily Mail, El País o El Mundo have written about them.

Once the San Andrés award was given, the traditional uncork of the wine happened followed by a toast with Tenerife wines. Lastly, musician Benito Cabrera offered his show “Canary Islands: wines to the world”.

Best Wine Work

Roberto Santana

Roberto Santa (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1977) is a well known wine expert and taster of the Canary Islands. His fame goes beyond our borders, and so does his wines which are elaborated in Tenerife. Santana studied Chemistry at La Laguna University and then travelled to Elche to study at Miguel Hernández University, where he met three friends that are now part of Envínate. They made wines in Taganana, Santiago del Teide and La Orotava. Luis Gutiérrez, writer and journalist (expert in wines and representative of Robert Parker’s Wien Advocate in Spain) highlights Santana’s work as a wine expert who led him to Suertes del Marqués winery, where the “revolution” of the canary wines started. Envínate, is also formed by Laura Ramos, born in Murcia, Alfonso Torrente, from Galicia and José Ángel Martine from Albacete. Not only do they make wine in Tenerife, but in Galicia, Extremadura and Murcia. All the wine they produce have something in common: “We make the wines we enjoy”, says Santana, and they follow the philosophy of “we believe in what we do; otherwise would be food for today and hunger for tomorrow”. The four experts experience firsthand the whole wine making process as well as the work in the vineyards, which they consider key to the final result.

“Nowadays , there isn’t a better wine, there’s only different wines. We like honest ones, those who show both the personality that the foil gives them and the character that marks the evolution of the grape and the soul of the people working in the vineyard”, Santana says. What Envínate does, using environmentally friendly products talks about the “terroir” and gives Atlantic airs, has been recognised by specialized critic all over the world. Their bottles are shown in the wine cellar of the best restaurants, not only in Spain, but also abroad. Moreover, Santana has became an example on the recovery of traditional vineyards systems, in Taganana for instance where he has kept a “Jurassic” way to treat this climbing plant. (Source: Diario de Avisos)