2020 Ca'n Verdura "Son Agulló" Mantonegro, Binissalem, Mallorca, Spain

ABOUT THIS WINE

One of the most exciting and special wines made on Mallorca, Son Agulló is from a single, old mantonegro vineyard, offering a window to a bygone area of viticulture. Son Agulló is an ultra-elegant, limited red wine from a very old 0.7ha parcel of mantonegro called Plà de Buc, near the village of Santa Maria del Camí, in the Binissalem D.O. The parcel of 60-year-old indigenous mantonegro vines planted en vaso (goblet) are of high value due to their genetic diversity, resulting in complexity and site transparency. It stands out as a world-class red wine and certainly one of the most exciting red wines of Mallorca.

Plà de Buc is a parcel planted in call vermell soils: a red, iron-rich clay, limestone soil typical of Binissalem. This soil has excellent water retention due to the clay content, which is important to avoiding hydric stress and producing elegant wines in the typically arid Mallorca climate. The other important feature of this windy vineyard is that it receives excellent ventilation. The Levante winds blow from NE to SW off Menorca across the island, cooling the vineyard and providing natural protection from disease.

Tomeu Llabrés is a viticulture practicing minimum 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. In his converted garage winery in the center of the ancient town of Binissalem, 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.

Vinification – Following a manual harvest in small boxes, alcoholic fermentation takes place in a used 600L open-top French foudre. The temperature is not regulated and varies, heating up as the fermentation progresses. Only native yeasts are used. Thirteen days of maceration with short daily pump-overs. Sulfur is only added in small doses after the alcoholic fermentation is complete. The wine is then aged in 300L and 600L French oak barrels for 10 months, followed by a month in stainless steel. It is not filtered or clarified before bottling.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Ca'n Verdura is a next-generation artisanal Mallorcan viticulture in Binissalem, Mallorca dedicated to resurrecting indigenous varieties: Montenegro, Callet, Moll, Giró Ros. Viticulture in miniature: small-batch wines from a micro-winery located in a converted auto-garage. Practicing minimum intervention winemaking and low-impact viticulture.