A cobbled corner of the Arguayo neighbourhood stands out as if it were a journey back in time, to the traditional activities of a population that turned grapes into one of the most appreciated products in Europe and America, under the name of “Vino Canarias”.
In the memory of the elders are the grape harvests that ended up in the striking wine presses that the wise hands of stonemasons, carpenters, master builders and the eye of the winegrowers had built. With its unmistakable large beam of Canary Island pine that was used to press the grapes and obtain the wine. These works of engineering have gradually disappeared due to the irruption of the maceration processes in modern wineries, in large metal containers. But some of the wine presses have been saved and are proudly displayed as landmarks of the past, as is the case in the village of Arguayo, where an old wine press has been reconstructed, near the Parque de las Eras, in an enclosure made of volcanic stone for public exhibition in a small park with benches to rest and travel back in time, although the wine press was formerly located in this same place, rescuing the pieces that had been removed after dismantling the structure. The wine press is made of wood and allows us to learn about the different parts and the mechanics of wine production.
Hence the list of words that are hardly remembered any more, such as the Spindle and the rear and front Virgins, the Vat, the counterweight stone and the Concha, the Biquera, the Vat carved in wood, the Pin, the Lever and the Stone.
