Juan Francisco (Juanfra to his friends) is a progressive winemaker in the Valle de G�imar, a small DO in Tenerife with only 12 wineries located on the Northeast side of the island. G�imar is known for white wines, typically made with List�n Blanco, the ubiquitous white grape of the Canary Islands. The DO ranges from 100 to 1400 meters in elevation up the slope of Las Ca�adas del Teide, and includes some of the highest elevation vines in all of Europe. Trade winds coming off the Atlantic help to keep temperatures moderate, rainfall is minimal and sunshine abounds. Juanfra is located in the center of the DO, in the town of Arafo at 700-800m in elevation, and most of his vines are in the surrounding areas. In addition to the wines he makes around Arafo, he is working on a project to recuperate old and abandoned vineyards high up in an area called Las Dehesas. These vineyards are at 1400m, and only reachable by a special tractor, which is why no one wants to make the effort to harvest grapes from this extremely steep and difficult terrain...Juanfra is alone in his quest to preserve these old vines. He studied winemaking in Tenerife, before taking over the vineyards from his father in 1998, only two years after the Valle de G�imar became an official DO.
