Viñátigo Lomo de la Era Vino de Parcela

While Juan Jesús Méndez has spent a lifetime cataloging the Canary Islands' lost grapes, his son Jorge is now mapping its most profound terroirs. His quest leads him to Lomo de la Era, a precipitous plot on the western side of the La Orotava Valley where the island's volcanic bones break through the surface.

Five hundred thousand years ago, the collapse of the Cañadas Edifice carved this valley in a catastrophic landslide. Lomo de la Era perches at 500 meters on the valley's stony western shoulder, where vines are trained in the legendary cordon trenzado system—their arms braided into living sculptures, five-meter-long serpents slithering down the soft volcanic slopes, drinking in the salty breath of the North Atlantic trade winds.

The winemaking is pure, ancient alchemy: pre-fermentative oxidation, wild fermentation without temperature control, nine months aging in amphora without racking. No tricks, no interruptions—just wine and earth in conversation.

Dry and textured with dusty salinity, it unfolds with vibrant fruit—think salty, astringent quince eaten straight from the tree, but bathed in the sticky drips of fresh honeycomb. A reductive spark of flint and gunpowder. An aromatic blast of volcanic rock.

Drink it on a third date—the one where you’re both trying to play it cool but already know you’re falling.