Lanzarote – Volcanic Vineyards - Part 1
My main reason for visiting Lanzarote was for a walking holiday, but obviously I could not go there without seeing a wine grower or two. We passed quite a few vineyards on our walk across the island, and I have to say that they are quite unlike any other vineyards that I have seen anywhere in the world. I wondered whether Lanzarote might follow the example of Santorini, with vines that look as though they have been woven into baskets, but no. They are usually protected from the often-strong winds by a semi-circular wall built from large chunks of volcanic lava and left to sprawl along the ground. As we were to discover, much depends on the depth of the lava and a third of the island is covered in dramatic black lava, the result of extensive volcanic eruptions in the 1730s. The other wonderful streak of originality in Lanzarote viticulture is that camels were used for carrying the grapes at harvest time until...
