Singularities
PRE-PHYLLOXERA VARIETIES:
Practically all our vineyards are planted without grafting, as La Palma is free of Phylloxera (a pest originally from North America that devastated European vineyards at the end of the 18th century), and the island conserves these varieties brought by the conquerors in 1505 and by later settlers. Many of these ancestral varieties are now extinct in their places of origin.
OLD ROOT STOCK:
Much of the wine stock grown on the island is over 70 years old, and in the case of Malmsey, some of the root stock is over 100 years old.
VOLCANIC SOILS:
The vineyards are situated on steep slopes, where small terraces have been built using what can only be described as spectacular means. As the poorer, marginal soils have historically been used for wine growing, leaving the best lands for growing staples such as cereals, potatoes, etc., La Palma farmers have made a Herculean effort and have managed to convert their volcanic wastelands into productive land.
UNMECHANISED PRODUCTION:
The rugged terrain of our island and the fragmentation of ownership throughout our history have led to the creation of very small, irregular plots that make mechanisation difficult, so we could almost say that we are talking more about handicrafts than wine.
