Domingo Farrais purchased the El Ratiño estate from the income of a small food store and the money he had saved from his emigration to Cuba. When he started to make wine to sell in bulk, he never imagined how far his initiative would come generations later. Domingo’s wife, Candelaria Lorenzo, left the estate to their six daughters, who all maintained the vine cultivation. One of them, Cecilia Farráis, along with her husband Agustín García, took the work one step further: they modernized the winery and were the first in Tenerife to make wine in stainless steel containers and take care of the hygiene and cleaning of the winemaking elements. Their children joined the family project from 1994, and today Agustín García Farráis is the oenologist and manager.

In the course of time, the wine has experienced an evolution that placed it among the best of the Canary Islands. It involves intense work of the vines and the cultivation criteria, additional estates to increase the production, and expanding the product range with oenological practices that aim for the best treatment of the raw materials and excellence in the results.

They preserve the traditional cultivation of plants pleached into multiple strings: an old vine that is pruned so it grows intertwined in one single direction and can reach up to five meters in length

The winery and estate of El Ratiño are located in the neighborhood La Perdoma of the Valle de la Orotava, where they preserve and take care of the traditional cultivation of plants pleached into multiple strings: an old vine that, as it grows, is pruned so it grows intertwined in one single direction and can reach up to five meters in length. By tradition, this was a system that allowed for mixed crops, given that the vine could be harvested at certain times of the year and planted next to the products for family use, for example vegetables. Today this is an outdated practice because the vine doesn’t need the fertilizer and the watering these kind of plants do, quite to the contrary.

This cultivation system requires very specific care throughout the year, which men and women share the traditional way: the men prune the long shoots that bore fruit the year before, and the women tie the twigs that are left to the old wood, with vegetal string (nowadays, a strip of light wood; back then, tanned leather); afterwards, the men hoe around the trunk and fertilize it; then it is again the women’s turn to connect the twigs to the trunk and make sure that the bunches get enough air so they can have sulfur treatments to avoid disease like powdery mildew. During the harvest, the women handle cutting the bunches while the men carry the fruit to the winery.

“We look for small and well aerated bunches that get a lot of sunshine,” says Agustín and, even though it reduced the production by thirty percent, the sacrifice is compensated by the quality gain

In the close-by La Araucaria estate, in Las Toscas, the scenery is different because here the cultivation is more contemporary: organized rows of vines in espalier led by a double string that allows to work comfortably and even to access it with a small tractor. During the year they defoliate the plants and, when there are fruits, they thin the bunches sacrificing those which grow later and only keeping the ones that have the best exposure. “We look for small and well aerated bunches that get a lot of sunshine,” says Agustín García Farráis and, even though it reduced the production by thirty percent, the sacrifice is compensated by the quality gain.

■ Bodegas Tajinaste SLL El Ratiño 5 (La Perdoma), 38315 La Orotava (Tenerife), Islas Canarias (España) Phone number: (34) 922 308 720 Cell phone: (34) 696 030 347 Email: bodega@tajinaste.net Home page: www.tajinaste.net ● Capacity: 200,000 liters. ● Average production: 150,000 bottles/year. ● Exportation: Spanish Peninsula, United States, Germany ♠ Visits by appointment. ♣ There is a shop and a tasting lounge. ♥ Activities: tasting courses, group events (guided tasting, food and wine pairings, bachelor parties, etc.).