Lanzarote 2005: Feb 26th – Mar 5th
1999 Mozaga, Lagar reserva, Lanzarote
Tinto, Lanzarote/Canarias, Spain: Tired ruby, clear. Soft mature red
fruit in the nose. Despite 13% vol alc medium body at best but nice taste,
soft fruit, low tannins and even less acidity. Slightly hot finish but nice
aftertaste. Good match with a simple lunch and even good enough to take a sip
without food. Tasted2005Mar. NoScore. Not blind. Not decanted. Water glass.
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2002 La Vegueta, Lanzarote Tinto,
Lanzarote/Canarias, Spain: Dark ruby, bright, fat tears. Dark fruit and hint of
cess pool in the nose. Medium body (13.5% vol alc), soft dark fruit, taste of
dark vulcanic ground, basic levels of tannins and acidity. Medium finish,
dark soft fruit, specific aftertaste. Fine with meat or dark fish like tuna.
Score: 50 + 4 for optic + 12 for bouquet + 16 for taste + 6 for overall =
total score of 88. Tasted2005Mar. Score88. Not blind. Not decanted. Generic
red wine glass.
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2003 Bermejo, Lanzarote Tinto, Lanzarote/Canarias,
Spain: Red currant nose, red currant wine taste. Maybe a bit too much
sulphur. Smell and taste of an american hybrid variety. Tasted2005Mar.
NoScore. Not blind. Not decanted. Very small wine glass.
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2003 El Grifo, Lanzarote Tinto
(Listan Negro), Cuatro meses en barrica (american and french oak),
Lanzarote/Canarias, Spain: Mediem garnet. Bit tired red fruit in the nose,
slightly oxidized, else nice with food. Tasted2005Mar. NoScore. Not blind.
Not decanted. Water glass.
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2003 La Geria, Lanzarote Tinto (Listan Negro),
Tres Meses en Barrica (american oak), Lanzarote/Canarias, Spain: Medium
garnet. Champignons in the nose. Thin body, very tender, quite soft.
Tasted2005Mar. NoScore. Not blind. Not decanted. Simple wine glass.
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2003 Reymar, Lanzarote Tinto (Listan
Negro), Cuatro meses en barrica, Lanzarote/Canarias, Spain: Medium garnet. No nose. Thin
body, slightly smoky and bit peculiar taste, hint of acidity. Tasted2005Mar.
NoScore. Not blind. Not decanted. Water glass.
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2003 Vega de Yuco, Lanzarote Tinto (Listan Negro & Negramol),
Lanzarote/Canarias, Spain: Medium garnet. Some not very fresh fruit. Thin
body, some tannins, bit of acidity. Fine with food, even fish. Hints of
slightly dubious aromas and flavours could be interpreted as indicators of
vulcanic terroir. Tasted2005Mar. NoScore. Not blind. Not decanted. Simple
wine glass. Con su escudo de arenas, ni el sol las abraza, aunque las
calienta, ni el aire las seca, aunque las depura, ni el aqua copiosa las
roba, aunque las fertiliza.
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Typical Lanzarote vineyard: Is this agriculture or land art?
Another vineyard:The yield per hectare is rather low here as you can imagine
Vineyard detail: Where are the vines?
Vineyard with a view: Vineyard in the La Geria area with straight walls on the borders of a
black desert hill and with an eye catching palm tree
Vineyard with a palm tree: Same vineyard, closer look, other light
Vineyard with stright line stone walls: This is a vineyard near the El Grifo winery with a nice wine museum
attached.
Despite the great effort combined with low yield the
prices are rather low - in average between 5-8 Euro in retail and 10-12 in
restaurants
Vineyard details: At a less exposed site only straight walls of lava stones to protect the
vines against the wind. The sweet and dry white wines are considered superior
to the red ones, but the dry red Listan Negro & Negramol based wines are
also rather interesting and have a distinct flavour after vulcanic soil (at
least you can imagine this)
El Golfo: Nice small city in the south of Lanzarote. The atlantic ocean seems a
bit angry here so there is always some heavy surf giving a fascinating
spectacle.
Nice small restaurant facing the seafront, for example
the Placido: There is no such decadent thing like a menue - the only offer is
the daily catch of fresh fish with an accordingly fresh salad as entrée and a
creme caramel with coffée as finish. Take this with a bottle of mineral water
and a bottle of Lanzarote wine (no problem to combine the red one with fish -
even better than the a bit too fruity white one) and you have a fine dinner.
Some more surf: Again Los Hervidores. This lava cliff gives delivers resistance to the
ocean
Surf: Atlantic in motion.
Better than television
Sardines: Fresh fish and sardines are a common meal on Lanzarote and highly to
recommend. Here we have some sardines over a grill with only vulcanic heat
Potatoe fielt: Small potatoes boiled in very salty water combined with red sharp and a
bit softer green sauce called "Mojo" are a very local side dish
Corn field: I am not sure but I think this is corn
Vineyard on a slope. In some weeks there will
be some green here also
Lone vine with a first green tip. Unbelievable
that something can grow on this ground
Saline: On the southern coast of Lanzarote: Production of salt in the Salinas de
Janubio by evaporation of sea water
El Golfo with running waves: Nice light and some more spectacular waves
Rolling waves near El Golfo: We liked this part of the coast in the south of Lanzarote called Los
Hervideros most because of the spectacle of the never tiring surf
Colored sky over the ocean: The clouds move very fast on Lanzerote and the weather was a bit
unreliable - here you know were the weather comes from: From the ocean
Uga - View from our residence in Lanzarote: In the center of southern Lanzarote. Unspectacular but nice small
village near the beautiful city Yaiza. Our luck: One of the best restaurants in
this region is La Era in Yaiza. We visited it twice in one week. Rustic
ambiente but refined regional cooking. There is even a menue degustacion and a
reasonable wine list including one page of Lanzarote wines with some half
bottles if you want to try different choices
Work in the vineyard: Some work to do in the vineyards now, most of them in the south of
Lanzarote in a region called La Geria. Most of the area is covered with
pyroclasts: Small lava fragments (few mm in diameter) from vulcanic eruptions together
with ash and also greater stones, on Lanzaroto also called Lapilli. Each vine
sits in a small crater of Lapilli with a round wall out of lava stones against
the winds. In a few weeks the first leaves will show and there will be a lot of
green in the grey/black vineyards
Teguise - Vila Real: Nice town in the very center of Lanzarote. The market on Sunday is a
great event with tourists flowing in from the whole island. On the other days
of the week rather quiet.
Cactus field: There is a lot of cactus fields in the northern part of the islands. The
fruits are used to make jam
Haira - City of 1000 palm trees: May be the number of palm trees is only 999 but this is a very
picturesque city in the center of the northern part of the island without heavy
tourism. The view from the road coming from the montains is breathtaking.
The restaurant Casa'l Cura in Haria was highly
recommended but made a rather curious impression to us - when we had a look at
it we found it closed in the front and busy from the backyard: It was full with
the guests of 3 tourist busses so we avoided it. I later learned that this was
probably the wrong decision and that we "missed a very honest meal" -
maybe next time
Small port, nice boats: This small port in the small town of Orzola is in the very north of
Lanzarote with a ferry service to the small Graciosa island nearby.
Speaking of ports: The best restaurant on Lanzarote
for us was the Bar del Club in Porto Calero (rather new marina with probably
bad return in investment so far, many buildings are still not in use): Fairly
decent (seemingly a bit stiff but counterbalanced with nice service and soft
jazz music) restaurant with several small rooms and a large terrace in front of
the port. Small but excellent menue and wine card and acceptable wine glasses.