Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 33

Wherever you may be on Tenerife, you're never far
from the sea. Even if you climb to the top of El Teide,
at 12,000 feet, the highest point in Spain, the volcano
is surrounded by a sea of clouds. The clouds approach
and retreat from the peak in constant waves, driven
by the Alisios winds and the cold waters descending
from the North Atlantic.
Those trade winds and currents brought viticulture to these islands, arriving in the sweep of conquest by Europeans on their way to the New World.
It's not clear when this volcanic archipelago was first
settled-perhaps, around 1,000 BC, though some
researchers suggest the fourth century BC, almost
two thousand years before the Spanish and Portuguese arrived.
The Guanches, the aboriginal people of the
islands, are genetically related to North African Berbers. Their traditional farming focused on grains,
toasting and grinding them into gofio, which is still
a staple of the local diet. The Europeans reimagined
the hills of Tenerife as a place for vines, which missionaries carried on to the New World, and bananas,
which traders brought back. The steep hills above
the coast are now covered in banana plantations and
vineyards, including an eclectic mix of more than 80

varieties Europeans brought to the islands.
There is no phylloxera in the volcanic soils, and,
even if many of those vines produce rustic wines,
there are plenty of European tourists eager to drink
them. So, with little pressure for change, the Canaries
remain an untapped viticultural gold mine: a diverse
mix of vines on their own roots at a wide range of altitudes, from sea level to thousands of feet above and
still within view of the sea. When you consider the
potential of this place, it is breathtaking.
Tenerife sits over a fissure in the earth where two
plates are pulling apart, generating the occasional
tremor, or, more radically, a mountain rising out of
the fissure delivering lava and ash. The most recent
major eruption came on Lanzarote, a nearby island,
which had long been too dry for viticulture. Father
Lorenzo Curbelo, a priest who survived the blast in
the village of Yaiza, recorded in his diary, "On the
first day of September, 1730 between nine and ten
o'clock at night, the earth suddenly opened near
Timanfaya, two miles from Yaiza. An enormous
mountain emerged from the ground with flames
coming from its summit. It continued burning for
19 days." And his diary entries continue, describing
each subsequent eruption, explosion and rent in the
WINE & SPIRITS

AUGUST 2018

The sea of clouds surrounding
the north side of El Teide as cold
currents from the North Atlantic
drive moist air against the wall of
Tenerife's volcanic peaks.
33



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2018

Contents
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 1
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 2
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 3
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 4
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 6
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 7
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 8
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 9
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 10
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 11
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 12
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 13
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 14
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 15
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 16
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 17
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 18
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 19
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 20
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 21
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 22
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 23
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 24
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 25
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 26
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 27
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 28
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 29
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 30
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 31
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 32
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 33
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 34
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 35
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 36
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 37
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 38
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 39
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 40
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 41
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 42
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Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 49
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Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 73
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Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 76
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Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 87
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 88
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - Cover3
Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - Cover4
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