By definition, a single vineyard wine is a type of wine produced from grapes cultivated in a specific plot of a vineyard. The idea behind these wines is to highlight the distinctive characteristics of a specific location, capturing the uniqueness of the terroir (soil, climate) and its interaction with the vineyard and grape variety.

Single vineyard wines are the current trend and the response to an increasingly demanding consumer who avoids an increasingly globalized and industrialized wine world driven solely by the commercial interests of large wineries.

In recent years, producers committed to the excellence and exclusivity of these vinifications have shifted the focus of their work to the individual plot or estate. Now, what is crucial for the future of a wine doesn’t take place in the winery; instead, it happens in the vineyard, with everything revolving around the soil profile. When a winemaker finds what they are looking for in a specific plot, they work towards their perfect wine specifically from that defined sector, leaving out everything else.

Canary Islands, “A Paradise for Single Parcel Wines”

From its origins, the wineries and viticulturists that make up the DOP Canary Islands – Canary Wine have always advocated for highlighting the uniqueness of a viticulture with centuries of history, shaped into a true “Unique Viticultural Paradise,” where, if we had to define it in a single word, it would undoubtedly be diversity.

Due to their volcanic origin, the topography of the islands is highly diverse, characterized by elevated mountains in relation to their surface area. With the exception of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, all islands have significant central peaks, from which steep slopes descend, segmented by deep ravines until reaching the sea. This arrangement of the terrain and their location in the subtropical zone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, under the influence of the Trade Winds, gives them a great variety of microclimates, which is another factor to consider from a viticultural perspective.

Undoubtedly, we could affirm that the vineyards of the Canary Islands are the oldest in Europe, as they were never affected by the devastating phylloxera plague that affected vineyards worldwide in the late 19th century. The absence of this lethal plague in the archipelago’s vineyards has allowed the Canary Islands to preserve a true “Garden of Varieties” with more than 80 different ones, of which 25 are exclusive worldwide.

The characteristics of all these grape varieties are heavily influenced by their origin in terms of soil, microclimate, altitude, orientation, training system, and, of course, the interpretation of the winemaker under a concept of traditional, ecological, or biodynamic viticulture. Thus, we can find monovarietal references or the most original combinations, opening up an extensive field for the production of unique and exceptional “Single Parcel Wines.”

Reflecting Diversity and Uniqueness: The specifications of the Canary Islands DOP.

However, all this new world full of possibilities that opens up around Single Parcel Wines would lose value for a demanding new consumer of quality wines without a regulatory framework that highlights the singularity of the future Canary Wines.

Therefore, since 2021, the Canary Islands DOP modified its specifications with new wine typologies (Regional Wines, Island Wine, Municipal Wine, and Single Parcel Wine) and their parameters, adapted to the current regulations of the European Union.

With this, two main objectives were achieved. The first is to provide a working tool to our viticulturists and winemakers affiliated with our Designation of Origin that highlights the value of their wine productions. And second, to provide the consumer with more information on the wine they are consuming through labeling, adding greater added value to Canary Wines.