Diego: the grape Lanzarote blends, and also bottles solo

A dozen wineries and wine shops on the island mention it on their websites, from field blends in the vineyard to a traditional-method sparkling with more than forty months of ageing.

On the websites of Lanzarote's wineries Malvasía volcánica takes the spotlight and Diego almost never leads: it sits further down, on the list of varieties. That line hides more than it seems to, because some houses bottle it on its own and even turn it into bubbles.

Where Diego comes from

At Bodega Los Bermejos they describe it with its surname of origin: also called Bujariego, Verijadiego or Vijariego, Diego comes from the south of the Iberian Peninsula, where you can still find it in the high areas of La Alpujarra, in the province of Granada. It is a white grape. And on many parcels of the island it is the majority white variety.

The blend is where it appears most

Diego's most common role on the island is inside the shared bottle. At Titerok-Akaet the blend is decided on the vine: Malvasía volcánica, Listán blanco and Diego grow together in their Malpaso vineyard, in Haría, and they credit Diego for the freshness of the whole. David Fernández grows the three usual varieties, Malvasía volcánica, Listán blanco and Diego, on volcanic ash, with everything worked by hand, parcel by parcel. For Diego he has his own vineyard in the north of the island, in the valley of ten thousand palms, at the foot of the Aganada massif. At Bodegas Tisalaya it shares the bottle with Malvasía volcánica in La Vegueta, a white from the municipality of Tinajo that the house describes as its fresh, fruity proposition.

The bottles where it stands alone

And there are the houses that leave it alone in the bottle. Bodegas Tisalaya puts the grape's name at the centre: its wine TISALAYA is 100% Diego from old vines, according to the house itself. The island's press echoed that commitment to being different.

"Miguel Morales dares, in the kingdom of the Malvasía, to make a delicious dry white wine with only grapes of the Diego variety" Lancelot Digital, on the house's website

Bodega Vulcano de Lanzarote bottles the Liquen Diego, made only with grapes of the variety and from organic farming, although it shows as sold out in the winery's online shop. At Bodega Stratvs the range of whites carries a Diego a Secas that the winery itself presents as a wine of elegance and balance. Bodega Olivina goes for fine bubbles with La huella de Luis, an ancestral-method wine made from Diego of old vines in the north of Lanzarote. TAO Viticultores, the house behind Jable de Tao, names one of its bottles after the grape: La Diego. And the most patient of them all comes from Finca Testeina, the wine-tourism estate of Bodegas Vega de Yuco. There you taste the Brut Nature Princesa Fayna, a sparkling made from 100% Diego grapes by the traditional method, with more than 40 months of ageing.

Where Diego gets poured

Of the eight businesses in the table, five confirm visits, and their plans are these.

David Fernández's tasting covers five of his wines in 45 minutes, glass by glass, for 25 €. The visit, an hour and a half long and 35 €, walks you through the vineyard before taking you down into a cellar dug into the volcanic rock itself. Both plans run in groups of ten people at most, you book them on his website up to six months ahead, and the diary only exists on Monday to Friday mornings.

At Finca Testeina the door to Diego is the synaesthetic tasting: a private visit and glasses of Princesa Fayna in a tasting you hear as much as you drink, with no price published on the estate's website.

At Bodega Stratvs the guided tour runs every day from 10:00 to 19:00, lasts about an hour and ends with three of the house's wines and cheese from Finca de Uga. The website does not specify which wines go into each tasting, so if the one you are after is the Diego a Secas, say so when you book.

Bodega Vulcano keeps its boutique in Tías open on Monday to Friday mornings, with tasting and visit among its services. The Liquen Diego is also sold in its online shop. At Winelanz, the wine shop in Uga, the shelf holds the white Maho 2023, with Malvasía volcánica, Listán blanco and Diego in its description. The shop opens on Monday to Friday mornings and on Saturday until 4 p.m., with Sundays closed.

For the other three houses in the table the visit status is not confirmed. Olivina's shop in Guatiza opens at midday from Monday to Thursday and on Saturday. Titerok-Akaet sells from its website, and with Tisalaya the phone and the website are what's left. For the bottle La Diego from TAO Viticultores, which does not appear in the table, the house leaves a phone number and an email on its website to ask.

If you have already tasted the malvasías

If La Geria's malvasías are already behind you, the synaesthetic tasting at Finca Testeina is the plan with the fewest unknowns: there Princesa Fayna carries the grape's full name and is drunk on a private visit. In the other houses Diego lives inside the range of whites, so the best move is to find out when you book which glasses go into each tasting. And if the plan is to take a bottle home, Olivina's shop in Guatiza and the wine shop in Uga are the shortcut to leave with one from that list.

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