Cider and hard-boiled eggs. These two products have become a symbol of Valleseco and this Sunday they were the protagonists on the eve of the feast of San Vicente Ferrer, where there was also music, children’s games, and entertainment in the streets awaiting the main day of the patron saint on Monday, with religious events, a livestock fair, more music, and humour.
For the past 15 years, the municipality of Valleseco has been at the forefront in the Canary Islands in the cultivation of reinette apples for cider production and aspires to consolidate this leadership with the establishment of a reference and research centre for all producers in the Archipelago in the town.
Over the weekend, it hosted the second regional fair, with meetings of all those involved in the sector, and held the First Official Agrocanarias Cider Competition, organized by the Canarian Institute of Agri-food Quality (ICCA) of the Government of the Canary Islands and the City Council, in which 23 ciders participated, 13 from the seven cider mills in Valleseco, six from three companies in Tenerife, three from a single cider mill in La Palma, and one from a producer in El Hierro.
The Official Competition took place with a blind tasting by an expert jury of eight members, some of whom came from Asturias and the Basque Country, and simultaneously, another popular tasting was held where the different ciders were evaluated by residents and some institutional representatives, including the Primary Sector councillor of the Gran Canaria Island Council, Miguel Hidalgo, the mayor of Valleseco, José Luis Rodríguez, and the director of ICCA, Luis Arráez.
Three categories
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In the official competition, the results of which will be announced in the coming weeks by the regional Agriculture councillor, Narvay Quintero, three categories were evaluated, with ten samples of natural ciders, seven of sparkling ciders, and six of sparkling ciders. They compete for the Grand Gold Medal, the Gold, the Silver, and special distinctions of Best Cider in the Canary Islands 2024, Best Organic Cider in the Canary Islands 2024, and Best Image and Presentation 2024.
Luis Arráez highlighted that like ICCA supports other sectors with competitions for cheeses, wines, gofios, oils, or salts, it has promoted this contest because in the Canary Islands there are ciders “of very good quality,” which have even won awards in national and international competitions.
“In terms of quantity,” Arráez pointed out, “we cannot compete with other regions, as we only produce an average of 75,000 litres per year, with about 50,000 litres in Valleseco alone, but it is important to give visibility to the product so that citizens and tourists who visit us know that cider is also produced in the Canary Islands and that we have areas where apples of high quality are grown, such as the midlands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro.”
This was discussed in the meetings of producers over the weekend, where guests from Asturias and the Basque Country analysed the current situation of cider and its cultivation, future prospects, as well as giving a talk on proper labelling.
Valleseco, as stated by the director of ICCA, leads the way in cider production, but given that this cultivation “has a future,” the Government of the Canary Islands will assist those starting out in other places so that the promotion and commercialisation are not solely carried by one municipality.
Support for apple cultivation, according to Arráez, is also a measure to curb depopulation in rural areas. “In cider, there is a future; we cannot think in large quantities, but we can compete in uniqueness because the volcanic soils and climate give it a special uniqueness and differentiation, just like with Canary wines.”
Firm steps
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José Antonio Norniella, the technical director of the tasting, said that the improvement of Canarian ciders “is noticeable year by year” and agreed that production has a future in the markets. “They are different from those in Asturias, where I come from, due to the raw material, as there they use many apple varieties and here they only cultivate the reinette, which gives it a characteristic typicity in both aroma and flavour,” explained the expert judge, who emphasised that he sees “a lot of enthusiasm to improve and grow in production by taking firm and calm steps.”
Of the seven producers in Valleseco, three of them not only participated in the competition but also set up a stand at the fair to offer tastings of their brands and sell some bottles to interested members of the public.
Distribution of hard-boiled eggs in the Plaza de Valleseco / Andrés Cruz
The Tuscany cider mill was the most crowded, as its owners set up large barrels and poured two of the three ciders they produce, the natural and the sparkling. In the queues that formed to taste their beverages, the most repeated question was about the origin of the commercial brand. Yes, it is related to Falcon Crest, as explained by Vicente Marrero, one of the owners.
«The name is a tribute from the rural youth, because when we students from Valleseco went out to Teror or Arucas, they called us affectionately, not derogatively, that we were from the Valley of Tuscany; hence the name came out», commented Marrero, who detailed that they have the winery in an old house in the Lanzarote district and the apple trees in estates located between the town of Valleseco and the village of Valsendero.
Tuscany produces about 3,000 litres per year, but aims to increase that amount in the coming years because «the prospects are good». It was presented at the blind tasting contest with natural cider and extra gasification. Also the sparkling one, but it ran out at Christmas. «They were taken from us», he indicated.
Producers call for cider to be included in the wine regulations for taverns and country inns
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Ángel Domínguez, from Lagar de Valleseco, was the pioneer in cider making in Gran Canaria and at his stall at the fair, he proudly displayed the medals and accolades his drinks have received in the last decade.
On his two hectares of land in La Laguna, he has apples to produce about 5,000 litres per year, although in 2023 it was 7,000 litres. «The pressing yield is 53%, because it rained a little more and the fruit was less dry, but each year is different because it depends on the flowering, whether or not there are bees in the area, or whether strong winds damage the flowers», he explained.
He also believes that Canarian cider has a future, although he ventured into it without being very clear. «When I started, they told me I was crazy, making cider in the Canary Islands, but a friend got me involved and we started», he said amused. Now there are seven producers and four bottle and sell under a commercial brand, one of them being the Valleseco City Council, which started the project 15 years ago and now sees its results.
The mayor, José Luis Rodríguez, expressed his satisfaction at seeing the new fairground full and noting the interest of the visitors. The next steps are already planned. To create the reference centre in Valleseco, for which there is already a building and the commitment of the Island Council to finance the project and the construction, and to amend the decree of the regional government concerning the taverns of Gran Canaria and the country inns of Tenerife so that, as with the sale of wines, the sale of ciders is also permitted. Ángel Domínguez, the pioneer, applauds the idea, but sees it in the longer term. In his opinion, the immediate focus should be on guided tours of the wineries, something that is already done timidly in Valleseco.
José María Déniz, from Fierro ciders, also joins the initiative and already has a winery in Madrelagua, where he has estates that produce 1,500 litres of cider per year.
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Miguel Hidalgo emphasized that the name of Valleseco is already linked to cider at a national level and announced that the Island Council will continue to support the City Council, in line with the mayor’s request, so that the cultivation of apples and their derivatives become one of the driving forces of the municipality’s economy to prevent depopulation.
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