On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, while most Northern Hemisphere wineries remained dormant, EL GRIFO began its harvest. This is not a calendar error. It is exactly what we set out to achieve.
A Project Challenging the Rules of Wine
EL GRIFO’s Winter Harvest is among the world’s most unique enological projects. Launched in 2021 in Playa Quemada, it has since expanded across the island. The premise is bold: reversing the vine’s natural growth cycle through early pruning—conducted this year on October 1, 2025—to ensure grapes ripen and are harvested in mid-winter or early spring. To our knowledge, there is no comparable project in Europe. A March harvest is unprecedented in the Northern Hemisphere.
Why Lanzarote Makes the Impossible Possible
Viticulture in Lanzarote has always been an act of resistance against wind, drought, and volcanic ash (picón) soil that would be uninhabitable elsewhere. However, this unique climate—mild winters and a lack of frost—makes Lanzarote the only place where this experiment thrives. The cycle that would be impossible on the continent becomes a reality here, on the lava.
More Than Wine: A Response to Climate Change
The Winter Harvest is not merely a curiosity. Behind every pruning and data point—thermal integrals, hydric stress analysis—lies a broader question: can this system make the wine sector more sustainable? Previous cycles suggest so. Winter vinification offers real energy savings—low ambient temperatures allow for natural fermentation control—and provides a clear path to mitigating climate change's impact on viticulture. The resulting wines are fresh, characterful, and remarkably well-preserved.
The 2026 Harvest
The 2026 harvest began on the morning of March 4. As with every year, the data collected—thermal integral, hydric stress, ripening evolution—will join EL GRIFO’s growing knowledge archive, with the goal of expanding this methodology to other vineyards on the island.
At EL GRIFO, we have spent 250 years learning that in Lanzarote, the rules of wine are written differently. The Winter Harvest is perhaps the clearest proof.
