Lanzarote vineyards don’t look like any others. Instead of tidy green rows, you discover thousands of black pits, each holding a single vine and ringed by a low curve of stone. The island is the driest of the Canary Islands, and the soil is mostly volcanic ash. By any normal rule, nothing should grow here. Yet the wine is among Spain's most distinctive, and its story starts with a disaster.
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| Vines and volcanoes share the same view in La Geria. |
How Did Wine Start in Lanzarote’s Volcanic Landscape?
The disaster was Timanfaya. Between 1730 and 1736, a run of eruptions buried the island’s best farmland, along with several villages, under lava and ash, as the
FAO’s agricultural heritage notes describe it. The valley of La Geria had been growing cereal crops until then. Farmers suddenly had black, loose ground and no obvious way to feed themselves from it.
What they found was that vines could cope. According to Google Arts & Culture, farmers gradually turned the old grain fields over to grapes, and that is how La Geria wine began. Today the valley sits right beside Timanfaya National Park, and you can see where one ends and the other begins from the colour of the ground alone.
How Are Grapes Grown in Volcanic Ash?
It looks improvised, but every part of the system has a job.
The Hoyo: A Pit Dug by Hand
Growers dig a wide, funnel-shaped hollow, called a hoyo or geria, down through the ash until they reach older soil underneath. One regional farming source puts the depth at about 1.25 metres. The vine goes in at the bottom, where its roots can reach something fertile.
Zocos: The Stone Walls
Around each pit, the grower builds a half-circle wall of dry stone called a zoco. It is placed across the prevailing wind, so the vine is sheltered from Atlantic gusts that would otherwise dry it out or tear it up. Some growers use long trenches instead of single pits, a variation the Vinos de Lanzarote regulatory council also describes.
Water Without Rain
Rain is rare, so the ash does the work. This layer of picón, as locals call it, traps moisture from the humid sea air and holds it near the roots while also insulating them, according to the same Google Arts & Culture feature. It is slow work, and it depends on people who know the method.
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| Picón, the porous ash layer that holds moisture around the roots. |
Visiting La Geria: Wine Route and Bodega Tours
A drive through the Valle de La Geria is usually treated as a must-do on Lanzarote. Several bodegas run daily guided visits that cover the valley’s history and a grower’s daily routine, then finish with a tasting, as the Barceló travel guide explains. Check each winery’s current hours before you set off, and allow yourself enough daylight to appreciate the geometry properly. Curious about other places where people have worked with volcanic ground? The cave city of Derinkuyu in Turkey was also carved into volcanic rock. You’ll find more on our Island and Natural Wonders pages.
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| One vine, one pit, all dug by hand. |
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| The zoco blocks the Atlantic wind. |
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| The road through La Geria runs between rows of pits. |
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| Malvasía Volcánica, the island’s signature white grape. |
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| Some growers use trenches instead of single pits. |
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| Lanzarote Vineyards: Volcanic Wine Production |
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| Lanzarote grape harvest vendimia |
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| Wineries in La Geria sit low in the landscape. |
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| Old vines grow low, close to the ash. |
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| Thousands of vine pits form a pattern across the ash of La Geria. |
Conclusion
Lanzarote’s vineyards are what happens when farmers refuse to accept the loss of their land. An eruption left ash, and people turned it into a wine region with shovels, stone and patience. That knowledge isn’t guaranteed to last, though: a local winegrower quoted by Google Arts & Culture warns that La Geria is losing its traditional workers. If you like wine, volcanoes or clever farming, this area is one of the best examples anywhere. For more oddities of rock and land, browse Ritebook’s Geology and Europe sections, or start from the home page.
Just saw you used one of my picture :) thank you. I now understand why I got so much visits
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