The wine of Icod and its wineries

Icod is not called "de los Vinos" by accident or by modern marketing. In the 16th and 17th centuries the malvasía of this district was drunk across half of Europe and shipped from Garachico, ten minutes from here. That trade collapsed with the 1706 eruption, but the vines stayed.

The denomination

The regulatory council was formed in 1991 at the initiative of the area's own growers and winemakers. The vineyards climb the midlands here, often in small, steep plots, which means almost everything is picked by hand.

The fact almost no guide has updated

It is worth saying precisely, because it is a sensitive subject here: the focus is located, fenced off and in a municipality at the other end of the north, more than forty kilometres from the Icod district. The programme's stated goal is eradication, which is only declared after a year with no detections. But the line "the Canaries, Europe's last phylloxera-free refuge", in the present tense and without caveats, is no longer accurate.

Which wineries you can visit

The regulatory council lists five member wineries: Viñátigo, Canales del Palmar, Borja Pérez, Aceviño and Estrada. Of those, two are confirmed within minutes of Finca Julia.

For the other three we could not verify an address, a phone number or whether they accept visits, so we do not list them as visitable. Always call ahead: at small wineries, wine tourism depends on someone being there that morning, and during harvest there is simply nobody free to show you round.

What to take home

The wines here do not taste like what you probably drink at home: there are whites from native varieties with real character and light reds that ask to be served slightly cool. If you are cooking at the house, buy them in town, not at the airport supermarket. And for context, Tenerife honey, Canary gofio and goat's cheeses also carry quality marks recognised by the Canary Institute of Food Quality.