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Harvest in March?: Bodegas Grifo's Response to Climate Change
This practice, pioneering in Europe, allows the winery (celebrating its 250th anniversary) to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. “If science has taught us anything, it is that we are quite ignorant in the face of nature”, they explain from the winery. “Wines do not speak, but we have learned their language”.
March has arrived, and the harvest has commenced! Indeed, just as you read it. With only three months crossed off the calendar in this year 2025, on the 18th of that month, the team at Bodegas El Grifo—led by Elisa Ludeña and advised by Xabier Kamio—conducted their fourth winter harvest.
Origin
For years, the high temperatures characteristic of climate change have been a problem that vintners must confront. As a result, Bodegas El Grifo initiated a trial aimed at advancing the harvest to the early months of the year to adapt the vine's vegetative cycle. In this way, the vineyard's cycle is completely altered, harvesting only once in winter instead of in August and September (as was customary).
“When we went to prune, we noticed that there was always a shoot on a cane, and we wondered if perhaps the vine was trying to send us a message. We experimented by advancing the pruning by three months, to October, and thus we could see if the vine would sprout and we could bring forward the harvest. Indeed, clusters and leaves began to appear, and the grapes ripened.” With this historic harvest in Europe, mirroring those conducted in the southern hemisphere, the most crucial cultivation phases of the plant—flowering, colour change, and ripening—coincide with the rainiest months and milder temperatures on the island of Lanzarote.
This is how El Grifo Vendimia de Invierno is achieved, a much fresher and more elegant wine that leaves no one indifferent.
Location
This unique project began to develop in 2022, on an experimental plot within the estate of El Grifo, dedicated exclusively to the cultivation of volcanic Malvasia. This plot, Playa Quemada, is located on the lower coasts of the island, in the municipality of Yaiza. A year later, in 2023, the number of estates and locations on the island was expanded: Norte, La Geria, Cuchillo, and Masdache. In all of them, constant technical monitoring is conducted, analysing temperature, degree of ripeness, and balance, always seeking the highest quality and excellence. Today, the experiment, fully consolidated, reaffirms itself as a safe bet that places the winery at the forefront of innovation on its 250th anniversary.
Production and Outcome
This demonstration of quality and expertise is no accident. From the harvest itself to bottling, El Grifo exhibits tremendous attention to detail. After the harvest, the grapes are taken to the press without destemming, where they are gently pressed in short cycles to obtain the first must. Following this, El Grifo Vendimia de Invierno is racked into fermentation tanks, where indigenous yeasts will work at a controlled temperature for about eight days. Once this process is complete, El Grifo Vendimia de Invierno rests in stainless steel tanks until bottling.
Beyond an intelligent response to a challenge, El Grifo Vendimia de Invierno is a declaration of love for the land, tradition, and innovation. Don't miss it!
