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Five Tenerife wines that explain the island over one dinner

Listán negro, dry malvasía and vines growing in volcanic ash: the wine list without the stuffiness, and with real prices.

· 7-minute read

A long garden table laid with wine glasses, red napkins and a candle
A table in the garden, laid before dinner.

Why Tenerife wine tastes different

Tenerife is a volcanic island with vineyards from almost sea level up to more than 1,500 metres. That, in a nutshell, is what you notice in the glass: volcanic soils, very porous and rich in minerals, and big differences in height and climate from one hillside to the next.

In Abona, the southern wine area that runs from Adeje to Fasnia, the vines climb as high as 1,700 metres. Vilaflor has, according to Turismo de Tenerife, the highest vineyards in Spain. El Molino Blanco is inside that area: the Abona wines on our list are made a few kilometres from your table.

There's another oddity. In Tenerife vines are planted on their own roots (a pie franco), not grafted onto American rootstock, which has been the norm in the rest of Europe since phylloxera wiped out the vineyards in the 19th century. Here the pest didn't arrive for a century and a half. In summer 2025 an outbreak was found in the north of the island, and in July 2026 the Canary Islands Government said it was in the eradication phase. The island's vines are still planted on their own roots.

The five DOs and the sixth

Tenerife has five denominations of origin (DOs) of its own: Abona (south), Tacoronte-Acentejo (north, the first in the Canaries, from 1992), Valle de La Orotava (north), Ycoden-Daute-Isora (north-west) and Valle de Güímar (east). On top of those, since the 2012 harvest there's been the Islas Canarias DO, which covers the whole archipelago and allows grapes from different islands to be blended.

Three of the five are on our list: Abona, Tacoronte-Acentejo and Ycoden-Daute-Isora. We don't have anything at the moment from the Valle de La Orotava, known for its braided cordon (cordón trenzado), a way of training the vine you only see there, or from the Valle de Güímar.

The grapes worth knowing

  • Listán negro. The island's red grape. It makes very tasty young reds, with dark fruit aromas and mineral notes.
  • Listán blanco. The most widely planted white. Good acidity, mineral aromas and body.
  • Malvasía aromática. The grape behind the famous Canary sack, the wine that English and Dutch fleets carried away from the islands in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today it's also made dry.
  • Moscatel de Alejandría. Flowers, citrus and the taste of fresh grapes. In fruity whites it softens and perfumes the wine.
  • Malvasía volcánica. Lanzarote's grape, planted in more than three quarters of the vineyards on that island.

Five Tenerife wines for one dinner

These are five wines from our list, from three of the island's DOs, with the grape and the price per bottle on the winter 2026–27 list, including IGIC (the Canary Islands sales tax, instead of VAT). The tasting notes are the ones on our wine list.

Tenerife whites:

  • Flor de Chasna Blanco Afrutado, DO Abona, Listán Blanco. €24.90. Intense aroma of mango and passion fruit, with fine herbaceous undertones reminiscent of rue.
  • Tágara Blanco Afrutado, DO Ycoden-Daute-Isora, Listán Blanco. €26. Aromas of passion fruit, aniseed and freshly cut grass.
  • Testamento Malvasía Dry, DO Abona, Malvasía Aromática. €28.20. The island's dry malvasía: intense aromas of tropical fruits, floral touches and softly spicy notes, with no sweetness.

Tenerife rosé and red:

  • Pagos de Reverón Afrutado, rosé, DO Abona, Listán Negro and Tempranillo. €27. Aromas dominated by notes of strawberry and raspberry.
  • Presas Ocampo Vendimia Seleccionada, red, DO Tacoronte-Acentejo, Listán Negro, Syrah and Merlot. €28.30. Intense aromas of vanilla and toast, notes of ripe red fruit and a spicy touch.

And two more Canarian wines that are also on the list:

  • Ferrera Legendario Tinto, DOP Islas Canarias, Syrah and Tempranillo. €39.
  • Rubicón Seco, DO Lanzarote, Malvasía Volcánica. €41. This is the wine of the volcanic ash: on Lanzarote every vine grows in a hollow dug into the layer of lapilli, the black ash from the eruptions, sheltered from the wind by a stone wall. It isn't from Tenerife. It's on the list because it's the other side of the islands' volcanic wine.

If you only try one, make it the dry malvasía: it's the grape that made the islands famous, and today you drink it without the sugar.

How to choose at the table

You don't need to know about wine. Three simple pointers:

  • With fish, papas arrugadas or the seafood paella: a Listán Blanco white or the dry malvasía.
  • With the black paella or the house paella: the dry malvasía or the Reverón rosé.
  • With meat, the beef fillet steak or the Châteaubriand: the Presas Ocampo red or the Ferrera.

And if you're not sure, ask. Tell us what you're having and if you like it dry or fruity, and we'll suggest a bottle from the island.

Where this comes from

If anything here has changed, tell us at the table or on +34 620 77 00 72 and we'll put it right, with the source in front of us.

Ask for advice at the table

Tell us what you're having and if you like your wine dry or fruity, and we'll suggest a bottle from the island.

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