Tuesday, 10 May 2016 13:10

Tried & Tasted: Guide To Canary Islands Wine

The Tried & Tasted Guide to Canary Islands Wine The Tried & Tasted Guide to Canary Islands Wine www.gran-canaria-info.com

The wines of the Canary Islands, born of lava and sunshine and pressed from rare and ancient grapes, are a the highlights of the islands that most visitors miss out on. We want to change that, so here's the book that helps you understand and enjoy them.

The Tried & Tasted Guide To Canary Islands Wines is a well-researched book (believe us, we didn't leave a bottle uncorked) about the wines of the Canary Islands and why every visitor has to try them.

It’s a guide for the casual or enthusiastic wine drinker who wants to know more about the unique grapes and wines of the Canary Islands.

Once you’ve read it, you’ll know enough about Canarian wine to recognise a good Malvasía, and know why La Palma wines taste of pineapple and Tenerife wines smell of fig leaves.

But don't worry, you won't know enough to turn into a wine buff and start spitting out perfectly good wine.

Canarians don't approve of that sort of thing anyway.

Happy drinking!

Extract: What's special about Canarian wine?

John Keats: Lines on the Mermaid Tavern

Have ye tippled drink more fine

Than mine host's Canary wine?

Three things make Canarian wine special...

Ancient grapes

The Canarian flora is a living fossil with over 600 species of plants that grow nowhere else on Earth. These remnants of an ancient Mediterranean vegetation that was squeezed into oblivion between the ice of Europe and the Sahara desert.
Canarian plants survived on the Atlantic Islands thanks to the temperate Atlantic Ocean.

Millions of years later, the grapevines of the Canary Islands pulled off a similar feat of survival.

In the 1860s, an American vine aphid known as phylloxera hitched a lift across the Atlantic on one of the first steamships and ravaged continental Europe’s vineyards. The bugs fed off the roots of European vines and spread a deadly fungus.

Nothing worked, not even toads

Growers tried everything from putting toads next to their vines to massive doses of chemicals, but nothing stopped their vines from withering.

Many ancient varieties died out completely and the survivors had to be grafted on phylloxera-resistant American rootstock. Within a few short years, Europe’s vineyards,and the taste of the wines they produced, had changed beyond recognition.

The taste of ungrafted pre-phylloxera wine has gone forever, except for a tiny number of wildly-expensive bottles coming from few patches of pre-phylloxera vines that survived in volcanic soils across Europe.

Even in these areas, most of the original vines were replaced with modern varieties.

The phylloxera-free Canary Islands

However, in the Canary Islands, phylloxera never struck and the vines that grow today descend directly from the original plants brought from Europe.

Canarian vines are therefore the only vines on Earth that can trace their lineage back to the vines brought to Hispania by the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Recent genetic studies have shown that several Canarian grape varieties, such as Tintilla, Marmajuelo and Forastera Blanca, have no known ancestors. It’s likely that their ancestors died out during the phylloxera plague of the 1870s leaving them as the last of their kind.

Like the laurel forests, viper’s bugloss flowers and houseleeks, Canary Islands grape vines are living fossils.

But they taste much better.

500 years of adaptation

Vines came to the Canary Islands from Spain, and from Madeira island to the north, as early as the 1450s. Since then, they have slowly been adapting to local conditions. Growers use cuttings from the vines that are best adapted to the local weather and soil to populate new vineyards.

The result, after 570 years, is vines that thrive in the local climate and soils and produce wines as spectacular as the islands they are from.

The Canarian climate and terroir

The Canary Islands climate is one of the best in the world, at least for people. From grapevines, it’s more of a challenge; the African sun and young volcanic soils packed with minerals mean that grape vines are at the edge of their comfort zone.

The result is grapes packed with sugar, minerals and character and wines with intense aromas and flavour; great for the whites, but more of a challenge for the reds.

LEARN MORE: The Tried & Tasted Guide To Canary Islands Wines is available as a Kindle book, and available for free for Gran Canaria info Club members.

 

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  • How To Choose A Legal Gran Canaria Airport Transfer
    How To Choose A Legal Gran Canaria Airport Transfer

    Gran Canaria's hotels have to be licensed and offer a quality level of service as well as having insurance and complying with fire regulations. The same goes for the boats that take people out to watch dolphins, the companies offering jeep safaris, and even the holiday let apartments. 

    However, not everybody in Gran Canaria follows the rules. For example, there is a significant industry running illegal and uninsured transfers between Gran Canaria airport and the island's resorts. These cars, driven by locals and foreign-residents, are just private vehicles and the drivers are unregulated and uninsured. They don't pay tax and there is no way to hold them responsible if something goes wrong. 

     At Gran Canaria Info we believe that all people and all companies offering services to tourists should legal and above board.

    So, how do you know that your airport transfer service is legal and registered with the Gran Canaria authorities?

     Using legal Gran Canaria airport transfers

    It is quite easy to know if your airport transfer service is operating in a legal way because all registered transfers have the following...

     A blue license plate: Taxis and other public service vehicles in Gran Canaria all have blue plates.

    A VTC sticker in the window: This stands for Vehículo de Transporte con Conductor, the official designation for licensed transfer drivers ans chauffeurs.

    An SP sticker on the car: This indicates that the car offer a Servicio Publico or public service and is therefore allowed to pick up and transfer members of the public. 

    Parked in the transport zone: Official airport transfer vehicles don't park in the public car park of the airport. Instead they have their own parking zone right by the arrivals gates at the airport (next to the taxis and package tour buses). Your transfer driver therefore should not have to pay a parking fee before leaving the aiport. 

    How to spot an unlicensed transfer service

    Unlicensed drivers get away with offerring their service because they claim that they are just members of the public picking up a friend. They are allowed to stand at arrivals with a sign (just like any member of the public can).

    However, they also have to park their car in the public car park and will walk you there with your luggage, stopping to pay the parking fee at the meter. A licensed transfer driver does not need to do this because they have their own parking zone right by arrivals.

    Some unlicensed drivers don't even wait at the arrival gate because the official drivers recognise them and get annoyed. Instead they have to stand further away (often by the Spar supermarket or the car rental desks). 

    When an unlicensed driver drops you at the airport they will not want to be paid in a public area because this proves that they are charging rather than "transporting a friend" for free. 

    An unlicensed car will not have a blue license plate, or a SP or VTC sticker, and will often look like a private car (because it is a private car). 

    What's the problem with unlicensed airport transfers?

    Some people use unlicensed cars because they are the cheapest option and don't realise that they are unlicensed. 

    There are several problems with unlicensed services. The most obvious is that they are uninsured so if something goes wrong or there is an accident, you are not protected. The price that unlicensed drivers offer is only low because they cut corners (hopefully not literally). You have no way of even knowing if your unlicensed driver has a Spanish driving license, insurance and a good driving record. Licensed drivers are vetted regularly and must be fully insured and licensed to work.

    Another problem is that unlicensed transfers undermine the legitimate transfer drivers and businesses in Gran Canaria. Local drivers make a living from transfers and offer a legal, regulated service with minimum standards. Every time an unlicensed service undercuts them, it is effectively stealing from local people and the island economy.

    We believe that everybody in Gran Canaria deserves better!

    Gran Canaria Airport Transfer Services

    To find out more about the Gran Canaria airport transfer, see our Gran Canaria airport transfer article which explains the three different models; man/woman from pub with car, online transfer websites, and local transfer services.

    Or you can book a legitimate Gran Canaria airport transfer at a great price right here. Our service uses local drivers and supprts the island economy because all the money you spend stays in Gran Canaria.

    Alex Says: Using our service also helps the Gran Canaria Info team to keep providing quality local information here and in our Facebook Group

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