Ca'n Verdura
It’s fair to say that the new generation of wine producers on the Balearic’s largest island, Mallorca, is making an impact, much like the name of Ca’n Verdura’s flagship cuvée Supernova implies.
With over fourteen million tourists visiting Mallorca each year, in recent times, the island was indeed in danger of losing its unique cultural heritage and a rich trove of indigenous grape varieties to international grapes planted in neat rows at wineries designed as vanity projects. The cost of vineyard land has soared, with luxury vacation homes replacing old vineyards without regard for the region’s unique cultural tradition of planting vines in polyculture. Such is the price of living in paradise where the story is similar to other islands across the Mediterranean, which struggle with the mixed-blessings of balancing the success of international tourism with the retention of the cultural traditions that created the demand in the first place.
However, all is not lost. The seeds of Mallorca’s rebirth lie within the new generation of winemakers, farmers, and chefs who are diligently cataloging, recuperating, replanting, and exalting the thousands of years of history pre-dating the boon of modern tourism. Like a Supernova, the modern wine and culinary scene of Mallorca are rapidly reviving and celebrating local, ecologically-sustainable food and wine production, which is both culturally relevant and gastronomically compelling. Starting with modest budgets and against the odds, our protagonists are now leading the conversation about the future of conservation and agriculture on the island.
Enter Tomeu Llabrés, working in self-described viticultura en miniatura, and his visionary work with the indigenous mantonegro grape at Ca’n Verdura Viticultores. In 2012 he founded his micro-winery in a former auto garage at the center of the ancient village of Binissalem, located in the north-central portion of Mallorca. Through a steadfast focus on the mantonegro grape, Tomeu has demonstrated that this ancient variety has incredible potential, creating some of the Balearic region’s most ground-breaking wines. In recent tastings, mantonegro has drawn flavor comparisons to another island grape native to Italy, nerello mascalese. Placing indigenous grapes in context can be tricky. Still, there certainly seems to be a similar renaissance of native varieties in Mallorca, and one can draw comparisons to what’s occurring in Sicily.
Biography
Tomeu Llabrés is a viticultor, practicing minimal intervention winemaking and low impact viticulture by leaving the cover crop during the cold season and encouraging biodiversity within his parcels and environment through polyculture. His wines are handmade, without additions, subtractions, or corrections. His primary objective with each cuvée is maximum respect and transparency for his terroir and culture, as well as for the customers who enjoy his wine.
Tomeu and Ca’n Verdura’s ancestral origins can be traced back at least six generations. His family cultivated Binissalem vineyards between “possessions” (large agricultural farms) in mixed-agriculture vineyards where grapes share space with other local crops such as apricot, almond, and olive trees. This type of polyculture is traditional to Mallorca and favored by Tomeu.
Following this tradition, Ca’n Verdura focuses on old-vine vineyards planted in the traditional en vaso (or goblet) vine training system, with reliance on the indigenous mantonegro and callet for red wines, as well as moll (a.k.a. prensal blanc), mantonegro cabellis, and giró ros for the white wines of Binissalem. Like other small projects on the island, international varieties are relied upon in small quantities for practical reasons in entry-level blends. Still, the future of plantings is clearly indigenous varieties. The soil of Binissalem is the excellent call vermell: a red, iron-rich clay, limestone soil with small to medium-sized galets. He works solely with old vineyards centered around the five historic villages of Binissalem.
Tomeu obtained his oenology degree in Tarragona and later gained valuable practical experience under Álvaro Palacios in Priorat and when he returned to the island, working with bigger house names like 4 Kilos, Anima Negra, and Son Campaner. At the same time, he explored his ideas at night which would someday become Ca’n Verdura.
Wines from Ca'n Verdura
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