The sandy, volcanic soils of the Canary Islands make them a place where the vine pest phylloxera has barely ever gotten a toehold. That means that the islands never experienced the decimation of native vine stock that traumatised most wine-producing areas of Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. As a result, there are a lot of old vineyards here populated with unusual native grape varieties – but many have been threatened by encroaching tourist developments. Juan Jesus Mendez is the driving force behind Bodegas Vinatigo, whose mission is to save and showcase the viticultural heritage of the Canary Islands through a series of single varietal bottlings of ungrafted indigenous grape varieties. All of them have a distinctly volcanic character. Marmajuelo is a rare and outstanding white variety that can tend towards tropical flavours. Vijariego is a highly acidic white, so Bodegas Vinatigo ferment and age it in barrel, with extended lees contact to bring a certain roundness. Island-hopping Gual is the same as Madeira’s Boal. Listan Blanco is the same as sherry’s Palomino, but takes on a very distinctive smoky, salty character in the Canaries, while red Listan Negro is indigenous, with a soft, peppery, smoky character. Negramoll (another red variety) has a distinctive red-berry and toffee character. These are all fascinating and characterful volcanic wines. (NT 18/06/25)