FOOD & DRINK LANZAROTE DESTINATIONS “T


his is the beginning. Everything started with


the volcano,” says Ascensión Robayna, picking up a handful of coal-black ash and letting the dark flecks spill through her fingers. Like the rest of Lanzarote, the


vineyard that supplies Bodega Bermejo is covered in a layer of thick black ‘picón’, a remnant of an enormous volcanic eruption that lasted six years and buried a quarter of the island’s surface below a blanket of lava. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the islanders were able


to salvage something from the jaws of disaster. They couldn’t grow vegetables or graze cattle any longer, but with the aid of rich volcanic soil, there was one thing they could now do better than before: make wine. Lanzarote’s first winery opened


in 1775, just 45 years after the eruption. And now, some of the island’s vintners are resurrecting traditional methods of organic winemaking with a little help from the Tui Care Foundation. “It’s important to know,


when you test the wine, what the beginning was, and how


the farmers adapted to this landscape,” says Robayna, who left her job as an accountant in the nearby village of Montaña Blanca to clear an abandoned vineyard and restore it to its fruitful former life. “It’s important to bring back


traditional methods, to reflect this winemaking role. It’s a way of preserving the landscape, our culture and our heritage.”


w HEART OF THE MATTER Robayna is based in La Geria, a fertile area at the heart of the island that is the centre of its


winemaking industry. It’s also home to the vineyards supported by the Tui Care Foundation, in partnership with German sustainability initiative Futouris, in a project that not only helps local winemakers but also provides employment for people with disabilities. With its dark, churned-up landscapes, palm trees bent over by the wind and brooding mountains framing the background, it’s hard to believe the islanders manage to make anything grow here in La Geria. But dig deep, below the


25 April 2019 travelweekly.co.uk 57


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80