Ca'n Verdura "Son Agulló" Mantonegro '18

With millions of tourists visiting Mallorca each year, the island recently was in danger of losing its unique cultural heritage, including viticulture specifically oriented to the preservation of native varieties. But a new generation of winemakers, farmers, and chefs who are diligently cataloging, recuperating, replanting, and exalting the thousands of years of history predating the boom of modern tourism.

Enter Tomeu Llabrés and his visionary work with the indigenous Mantonegro grape at his microwinery, Ca’n Verdura, which he founded in a former auto garage in 2012 in the Binissalem region, located in the north-central area of Mallorca. Tomeu has demonstrated this ancient variety has incredible potential, creating some of the most groundbreaking wines of the Balearic region. Tomeu's ancestral origins can be traced back at least six generations. He has traditional vineyards that share space with other crops such as fruit, nut and olive trees. This is the type of polyculture that is traditional to Mallorca.

The vineyards Tomeu farms were planted in 1958. The soil of Binissalem is cal vermell, red clay soil with limestone, and small to medium-sized galets.  Every parcel is hand-picked and fermented separately, then blended later. Only indigenous yeasts are used, and his vineyards are worked without the use of chemical treatments, farming organically. A key to practicing this type of agriculture is the Levante winds, which blow across Mallorca from northeast to southwest off the island of Minorca, cooling and aerating the vineyards, which are almost always windy. 

His "Son Agulló" is sourced specifically from a tiny parcel, less than a hectare in size, of 60 year old vine Mantonegro. These are sort of the vines that have stories to tell, that seem to shout of their place, their history. The richness of muddled summer strawberries nestles against the bitter bite of black tea leaves. There's a hint of lingering smoke, and a rugged minerality that only becomes more defined with several years aging in the bottle. It's a wine to speak of the richness of an historic tradition on the Balearic Archipelago.