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IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 El viñedo en Lanzarote y el Archipiélago Canario

El viñedo en Lanzarote y el Archipiélago Canario

Abstract

La isla de Lanzarote, primera en ser ocupada en los albores del siglo XV, es la única del archipiélago, junto con Fuerteventura, que no produjo vino. Ocasionalmente hubo algún parral para el consumo de su uva, pero no fue hasta la erupción volcánica de 1730-1736 en que se posibilitó su cultivo.
La dieta mediterránea (pan, aceite, vino, frutas) fue impuesta desde un principio por los ocupantes europeos. Lanzarote producía y exportaba cereales, carne y queso de cabra, mientras que adquiría fuera los vinos, bien andaluces, canarios o madeirenses.
Así siguieron las cosas hasta la erupción volcánica de 1730. Durante casi siete años, la lava y las arenas volcánicas arruinaron las mejores zonas agrícolas de la isla, impidiendo el cultivo de los cereales tradicionales. Ante tanta desgracia se comenzó a observar que ahoyando la tierra, es decir, apartando las arenas volcánicas hasta llegar a la tierra cultivable, podían plantarse árboles frutales, incluso viñas.
En los cuarenta del siglo XVIII se va acelerando el proceso de plantación por los obstáculos legales que se impuso a los aguardientes foráneos, señaladamente catalanes y mallorquines. Ello hizo que los comerciantes tinerfeños a​quella isla dominaba el mercado del vino del archipiélago, además de ser la mayor productora- se interesaran por los incipientes caldos conejeros con la finalidad de convertirlos en aguardiente. A tal fin, instalaron en Arrecife sus destilerías llegando a traer el combustible desde Tenerife, pues esta nueva actividad dejó a los lanzaroteños sin leña para cocinar.
El impulso del viñedo, merced a la demanda tinerfeña aceleró su plantación, que resultaba muy fatigosa pues obligaba a ahoyar las arenas (lo que solucionaba en parte la escasez de agua) y a proteger la planta de los vientos, bien con el hoyo de arena si resultaba lo suficiente profundo, bien mediante la construcción de unas pequeñas paredes de piedra seca, obtenidas picando las rocas volcánicas.
George Glas, comerciante británico, profundo conocedor de la sociedad canaria del segundo tercio del siglo XVIII, ilustrado y llevado a prisión por la Inquisición, mercader de vinos, viajero incansable y que visitó varias veces Lanzarote, nos da cuenta del incipiente comienzo de la viña en nuestra isla. Según él, en la década de 1750 o inicios de 1760 se producía cierta cantidad de vino que casi en su totalidad se exportaba a Tenerife, una vez destilado.
En 1749, el Cabildo lanzaroteño ya adopta un acuerdo “sobre la preferencia de los vinos de esta isla y compra de pipas de las que vienen de fuera”.
En 1776, aparece una obra de autor desconocido, titulada “El Compendio”, que nos da una idea pormenorizada del estado de la agricultura en la isla, cuarenta años después de la erupción del Timanfaya. Destaca que el viñedo se multiplica y que el vino se destinaba en su mayor parte para la elaboración de aguardientes que los tinerfeños realizaban en Arrecife, impulsando su desarrollo en detrimento de la Villa de Teguise, a la que acabó por arrebatar la capitalidad de la isla.
A mediados del XVIII, los malvasías canarios estaban casi desaparecidos, porque se elaboraban nuevos vinos tipo madeira (y que pasaban por tales en el mercado internacional), muy alcohólicos y con bastante color, que se obtenía utilizando parte de uva negra. En Lanzarote primaban las listanes blancas, como en el resto del archipiélago.
En el comienzo del siglo XIX, el vino lanzaroteño se consume cada vez más como vino, disminuyendo por tanto la importancia de los destilados. Este proceso se ve acelerado por la decadencia de los vinos canarios a partir de 1818, que llevó en 1853 a su casi exterminio, merced a unos ataques de oidio mal combatidos. La importancia de la vinificación en Lanzarote desde los comienzos del XIX, hizo que se sustituyeran buena parte de los Listanes por cepas de Malvasía, algo menos productiva pero de mayor calidad. En esta época la crisis afectó a los vinos comunes, con lo cual hasta finales del XIX, consecuencia de la filoxera en Francia, no se produce una recuperación de los vinos canarios.
En la exposición vitícola nacional de 1877, celebrada en Madrid como consecuencia del boom vitivinícola que se produjo como consecuencia del ataque de filoxera en Francia, se elaboró un informe sobre plantaciones, varietales, tipos de vino, etc.
De Lanzarote destaca como variedad la Malvasía, plantada en la isla a lo largo del XIX, probablemente de Sitges, varietal y vino fuertemente cotizados en la península desde comienzos de dicho siglo. En los comienzos de la viña lanzaroteña se plantaron los listanes, más productivos, ya que se trataba de elaborar aguardientes, aunque posteriormente fue la Malvasía la que se plantó de modo mayoritario cuando se trataba de exportar vinos a las islas mayores.
El siglo XX puede resumirse en lo ocurrido en los últimos años. En los años 60-70 se produce un abandono de gran parte del viñedo, principalmente de grandes propietarios debido al inicio del ciclo turístico. Esto supone también el cierre de muchas bodegas.
En la década de los 80, se inicia el cambio de los métodos de vinificación, introduciendo nuevas tecnologías que acercan la producción a los gustos del consumidor.

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Publication date: February 24, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2000 

Type: Article

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IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2000

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