Balearic Islands: the call vermell
Pliny the Elder already compared the wines of the Balearics to the best of Italy, in the 1st century BC. Today, a handful of almost-forgotten varieties are growing again under the island sun.
Twenty centuries of island wine
The Romans were probably the first to bring the vine and develop its cultivation in the Balearic Islands. Already in the 1st century BC, Pliny mentioned the wines of the Balearic Islands, comparing them to the best wines of Italy. Balearic soils, with a poorly developed profile and heavily influenced by the parent rock, are rich in calcareous sediments and red siliceous sandstones that give rise to reddish soils —its finest expression is the call vermell, a reddish organic soil due to its iron content, which gives the wines power but also poise and elegance when the vine is carefully worked.
The Balearic climate is an island variant of the Mediterranean climate, with moderate temperatures and rainfall that varies greatly with the season.
Almost-lost varieties, rescued
The set of minor varieties recorded over recent centuries is very wide, and there is currently a great effort to keep recovering some of them. Besides those already authorised — giró ros, gorgollassa, escursac o fogoneu mallorquí— the vinater blanc and the callet negrellaare in progress, among many others —recovery work very similar to what we already follow in the Pla de Bages or in Terra Alta.
Why we're not there yet
The Balearic Islands aren't part of the Terroir Radical catalogue yet, but this constant recovery of minor varieties is exactly the kind of work we're interested in following.
Wine documented since the 1st century BC, compared to the best of Italy.
A reddish organic soil rich in iron, giving power and elegance.
Giró ros, gorgollassa, escursac, fogoneu and other almost-forgotten varieties.
A territory in exploration
We don't have wines from the Balearic Islands in the catalogue yet. Meanwhile, discover the rest of our map.
See the whole territory See the current producers