2025 Lanzarote, Spain

Our penultimate port on our Atlantic Crossing was Lanzarote, Spain. Lanzarote is another of the Canary Islands and is known as a tourist destination as well as wine producer.

Lanzarote is the 4th largest island in the Canary Islands and is, apparently, the first island in the chain to have been settled. The island is covered in dormant volcanoes, the ash from their eruptions in the 1700’s covered a large portion of the island which now home to the vineyards that Lanzarote is famous for.

The Tour

I was looking forward to Lanzarote as we had a private wine tour booked for the day. Prior to the cruise I was researching tour guides and found Wine Tours Lanzarote had what looked like my sort of tour. The tour I picked was their Premium Wine Experience and Tapas tour, which included a visit to 3 wineries and lunch after the winery visits.

After being picked up near the wharf in Arrecife by our guide for the day, Cheryl, we learnt about how Lanzarote has its own DO, denominación de origen. We also learnt that Cheryl had been a tour guide on Lanzarote for years and that during COVID she started studying about wine so that she could become a Wine Tour guide. If Cheryl had not told us that it was a recent thing, I would have though that she had been wino for a long time, she knows her stuff.

To me the landscape of Lanzarote is a mix between my memory of the Atacama Desert in Chile and what I expect some parts of Mexico are like. Definitely a bit of wind around and a lot of cyclists who are apparently visiting from the UK and / or Europe. The wind is one of the reasons for the lack of trees on the island.

Bodegas Los Bemejos

The first winery on our itinerary was Bodegas Los Bemejos.

Extended, apocalyptic, untamed, desert, moon-like scenery field, carpeted by black volcanic ashes, sealed by semi-circle fences of rock that nest single vines.

This is how Bodegas Los Bemejos describes their vineyard’s landscape.

Whilst here we learnt how the volcanic ashes absorbs any moisture whilst also preventing its evaporation. Rainfall on Lanzarote averages at about 121 mm and 150 mm (about 4.8 to 5.9 inches) and is usually only between November and March, so water conservation is key to the success of agriculture, especially viticulture, in the Canaries.

Before sitting down to do the hard work, tasting, we went for a bit of a wander around the vineyard. Whilst the landscape is similar to Santorini, Greece, the way grapes are grown here is different. They either create a crater and then plant a vine in the centre, the crater is deep enough for the vine to be protected from the winds, or they build walls along the vines that are porous enough to allow some of the wind, that is carrying moisture, through whilst also protecting the vines from the strength of the wind. The walled approach is how Bodega Los Bemejos does it.

Now for the heavy duty bit. Wine Tasting

The Wine

Bodeguita Vega Volcán

Our next stop was Bodeguita Vega Volcán. This is definitely an artisanal winery run by a retired Lawyer and his wife, who is an artist. Apparently they bought the land, not sure if there were grapes already planted or not, and were making wine as a hobby, selling it on the roadside on weekends. Their wines were selling pretty well so decided to make it a more commercial enterprise and it is now their full time gig..

Bodeguita Vega Volcán use both the crater and wall methods to grow their grapes. I liked the feel of the place, the tasting room was a part of their house and lady of the house was who poured the wines for us with Cheryl taking us through the wines.

Time to get back to “work”.

The Wines

Bodeguita Vega Volcán Mulberry Liqueur. Forgot to grab a photo of this.

Appearance:	Deep red
Nose:	Not a great nose, a chemical fishy aroma
Palate:	Smooth palate, not overly sweet
Finish:	Long finish
Oz’s Rating:	3 out of 5

After the tasting we had a bit of a wander around the hacienda.

After the wander we headed to the next winery.

Bodega Vulcano de Lanzarote

Unlike the other wineries we visited Bodega Vulcano de Lanzarote‘s tasting room is situated not at the winery but in a town, Tias. It is a boutique / shop front that they have converted into a tasting room. A nice space, but I enjoy being in a winery when tasting.

The Wines

After all that tiring work it was time for lunch..

Bodega de Uga

Bodega de Uga was our destination for lunch. This was one of the highlights of the cruise for me.

We were greeted by the owner and taken to a great table outside under a bit of cover. He asked if we had any food allergies, none in our group, and then told us we will get what we are given… No menu. Awesome start.

The Food

First up was some locally produced smoked salmon. The fish is sourced from either Norway or Scotland and is smoked onsite in Uga for about 48 hours and is considered to be among the best in Europe. To be honest I don’t think I have tried better. You can buy it locally, not sure how I would have shipped this home.

This was excellent, just the right amount of smoke, extremely tasty.

A tasty salad using local produce was served along with the salmon.

Next up was locally caught calamari and octopus, more tastiness…

Then more local seafood, prawns this time.. I am getting hungry writing about them, they were excellent..

But wait there is more seafood. Next up was some black cherne, apparently a type of grouper. This was amazing.. I am running out of superlatives for the food.

What we were served next was a surprise. Firstly as it was locally farmed and secondly because of the flavour and how tender it was. CAMEL! This was my dish of the lunch. To me camel tastes like a cross between beef and camel. This was so tender and tasty. Worth visiting Bodega de Uga for this alone.

We were already exploding at the seams, but that did not stop the food from coming… Time for dessert. Both were very good, especially the dish in the Pyrex, but I only had room for a small tasting of each.

Bodega de Uga is definitely a place to add to your itinerary when you are in Lanzarote. Great service, amazing food… You do need to book as, even though we were there on a weekday, the place was packed out with cars parked on the roadside after about 2pm.

The Wine

With lunch we were give the choice of red or white, we went with white.

Back to the Ship

After what I think was the best tour of the cruise, and yes I did book it, it was time to head back to the RSS Splendor so I could recover in time for the Crew Capers that was on early evening. Will post about that soon.

Not long after leaving Bodega de Uga we passed the local camel farm and this monument was in the middle of a roundabout..

Wine Tours Lanzarote

I cannot recommend Wine Tours Lanzarote enough. Cheryl was both a great guide and also very knowledgeable about the history and wines of the island. They are not cheap, but that is because they provide a great service and take you to some very good wineries plus Bodega de Uga.

Lanzarote

I was not really sure what to expect from Lanzarote, I heard mixed comments about the place, but I liked it. So much so that I am already planning to return in 2026 just so I can harass Cheryl and Wine Tours Lanzarote again…

Side Note

When we got to Bodega de Uga we invited Cheryl to have lunch with us. We had an extra spot as one of our crew was not well on the day and did not join us, so we asked her. Cheryl after a bit of cajoling joined us for lunch. During lunch Cheryl told us that she does not get lunch invites from her guests and that this was also the first time she got to dine at Bodega de Uga. Unfortunately this was not the first time on this trip that I had heard the same from my tour guides.

To me dining with your tour guide is a great way to say thanks as well as to get to know them better. What do you think?

Next up Crew Capers.