El Grifo · Vintage 2022 · Order range

Malvasía Volcánica Brut Nature

Second fermentation in bottle, then several years on its own lees before disgorgement — unusually long for the island. No dosage, so what remains is the grape and the time. This is the first glass of the evening at our table, almost always.

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About the wine

Nose

Fresh yellow fruit and flowers.

Palate

Creamy, with pale fruit, citrus and white flowers, and a hint of pastry. Good length.

Key facts

Vintage

2022

Grapes

Malvasía Volcánica 100%

Alcohol

12.5%

Bottles produced

Around 9,000 bottles

Producer

El Grifo

Region

Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Serving

8–10 °C. Better in an ordinary white wine glass than a narrow flute.

Item no.

19491701

Range

Order range

Price

Kr 499,70 · Vinmonopolet, incl. VAT

The craft

How it is made

01

Harvest

Malvasía Volcánica is picked early by hand to hold on to the acidity. The aim is a base wine of no more than about 10% alcohol.
02

Base wine

Pressing and a first fermentation into a dry, still wine, usually one to three weeks. The base wine then rests unfiltered for a minimum of nine months and is stabilised before the bottle fermentation.
03

Tirage

The base wine is bottled with a precisely measured dose of sugar and yeast. The bottle is sealed and the second fermentation takes place inside it — normally six to eight weeks. The carbon dioxide stays in the wine. That is how the bubble is made.
04

On the lees

A minimum of two years at rest on the yeast lees. Autolysis slowly breaks the yeast cells down, giving brioche and pastry, a finer bead and a creamy texture.
05

Riddling

Towards the end of the ageing the bottles are turned and tilted in cages so that the lees gather in the neck.
06

Disgorging

The neck is frozen and the lees expelled. Brut Nature: virtually no dosage is added afterwards.
07

Time

A minimum of roughly three years from harvest to market. The winery disgorges some 2,000 bottles at a time, as needed — the rest stays on the lees.

What sets it apart

The second fermentation happens inside the bottle, not in tank, and several years pass between harvest and market.

Founded 1775 · San Bartolomé · Five wines

El Grifo

The oldest winery in the Canary Islands and one of the ten oldest in Spain, run by the same family for generations. They have made wine without interruption since 1775 and turned 250 in 2025 — and have kept a curiosity that runs from a bone-dry Brut Nature with several years on the lees to a pale free-run rosé.

About the producer