The Canary Islands form a group of islands off the coast of Morocco, but belong to Spain. The name originated already at the time of the Romans, who landed on Fuerteventura and discovered many wild dogs. "Insula Canaria", dog island, the Romans therefore called it. Later, this name was extended to the entire archipelago. The Spanish and Portuguese founded the viticulture from the 15th century. The wine of the Canary Islands also became famous through a quotation from William Shakespeare's "What You Will", in which Sir Toby Belch demands "a cup of Canary". The wine was very popular in England at that time; the modern banking and business district of London, Canary Wharf, already bears witness to this in its name, because this is where the shiploads of Canary wines used to be unloaded.
Today, the islands have a total of about 9000 hectares under vine, the largest areas being on the two large islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife. Although a total of 33 grape varieties are authorized for the production of wine, viticulture is usually limited to the Listan Negro and Negramoll varieties for red wines and Listan Blanco and Malvasia for white wines, the latter in both dry and sweet styles. The larger islands such as Tenerife, La Palma or Lanzarote also have controlled origins, the D.O.s.
A special feature are the wines of Lanzarote, because here the Malvasia grows on barren volcanic rock and develops a very individual style, in dry and sweet forms. Some producers increasingly rely on international red wine varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
