Bodegas El Grifo, Lanzarote’s oldest winery

Tomorrow the Lanzarote Wine Run 2017 is taking place in the region of La Geria. This event is one of our favourites as it combines our love for sport, gastronomy and volcanic landscapes. Peta, our Reservations Manager, is running the 13km race and we will be supporting her!

“Bodegas El Grifo” is one of the wineries where the runners will be passing through tomorrow. We visited this winery not long ago and we thoroughly enjoyed it. When you visit Lanzarote we recommend spending one day of your vacation discovering the wine region of La Geria.

El Grifo winery, founded after the volcanic eruptions in 1775, is the oldest winery in the Canaries and one of the ten oldest in Spain. El Grifo holds a family vineyard of 50 hectares around the winery and produces about half a million bottles of wine every year under the Lanzarote Guarantee of Origen.

Situated near the town of San Bartolomé, in the centre of the island of Lanzarote, El Grifo winery produces three types of wine from the Malvasía grape, dry, semisweet and sweet as well as wine from the listán negro grape used in making red wine, rosé, red, sparkling and muscatel. The industry claims that this wine has a “strong volcanic and mineral flavour”.

At the end of July and in August, the grapes are manually cut (first selection) and placed in rigid perforated crates made to hold 20 kilos. The grapes are immediately taken to the presses, where the second selection is carried out. Each crate is manually emptied onto a transport belt where the third selection of the bunches is made.

The wines of El Grifo are mainly sold in the Canary Islands, Spain, Germany, England and USA.

El Grifo Museum is open every day (including bank holidays) from 10:30am to 6pm. Inside, you will find wine presses, pumps, crushers, stills, etc. All from the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. This museum is one of the most visited in Spain (60,000 visitors per year). The entrance is via the sculpture of the Griffin Bird, designed by César Manrique.

There is also a Cactus Garden of 1000m2 with different types of cactus and plants that have adapted to the climate of Lanzarote, where high temperatures and rain occurs.

Here are some pictures we took during our visit:

Bodega El Grifo
Address: Lugar El Grifo – Road Teguise-Uga, LZ-30, Km.11 . 35.550, San Bartolomé
Telephone: 928.524.036