The Teneguia Bodegas winery on La Palma (bottle on the left) has 300 members. A great tour and tasting.
On the right is the rosada wine from the winery Bodega Tajinaste, on larger island of Tenerife.
A family business with a nursery plot where they plant new vines and record the results. Tajinaste is the red plant meaning needle.
Central London Wine Society held one of its twice a month wine tastings, in July, on the theme of Canary Islands wines. The presenter was Trevor Sharot, author of a book on island wines, called Isle Drink.
Canary Island Wines
He had brought back wines from the big island of Tenerife and smaller La Palma.
Canary Cheeses - Try And Buy For Holiday Lunches & Snacks
His slides showed that the cheeses were from cows, sheep and goats. One of the cheeses was wrapped in vine leaves.
Unfortunately you cannot bring back Canary cheeses from your holiday. Since 2025 they have been banned because of food and mouth disease to protect UK farmers. So, if you are on holiday in the Canary Islands take the opportunity to try the cheeses in a restaurant.
A budget friendly option if you are self catering on holiday is to buy from a local supermarket. Lidl has many branches and you can google your nearest branch.
Canary Wines From the Wine Society
Back in the UK, you can buy a small selection of Canary wines from the Wine Society which had a few basic popular and affordable wines. Trevor had enjoyed tasting those a month earlier at an event run by Christos.
Wine Of The Night -
Trevor's wines included one much more expensive wine, 66 Euros. It was voted wine of the night.
He had printed for each participant a tasting sheet with a map of the islands and vineyards he had visited showing where each wine came from.
His slides showed the different styles of vine training, taking into account the winds. A video of my hair blowing across my face was a dramatic and memorable illustration of the strength of the Westerly winds, which have an effect on the wines.
Another slide showed highest vineyard. It is not open to the public, up a private narrow side road, but you can see the terrain from a distance. Driving around the Canary islands, it becomes easier and easier to spot commercial vineyards, which are planted in rows.
The other crops include banana plants, usually much larger. Unlike the vines, some of the bananas are under giant greenhouses. This protects them from the weather, the wind, and creates heat which accelerates maturing so that the farmer gets two crops a year.
La Palma Volcano Eruption
Perhaps most memorable was the picture of the vineyard engulfed by the most recent volcanic eruption on La Palma around the time of Covid. No lives lost in the eruption but the vineyard owners' homes, vines and businesses needed finance and time for replacing.
An enjoyable informative and entertaining evening.
To see future meetings of the wine society check out Meetup and sign up.
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