Mallorca & the Balearics

Binissalem reds: soft, fruity Manto Negro blends from the island's central plain.

Binissalem is the DO in the middle of the island, northeast of Palma. Reds lead with Manto Negro, often blended with Callet for structure: light-to-medium body, red fruit, soft tannins, and a spicier note when oak-aged. Easy, sunny wines for roast meats and sobrassada.

Binissalem is the DO in the middle of the island, northeast of Palma. Reds lead with Manto Negro, often blended with Callet for structure: light-to-medium body, red fruit, soft tannins, and a spicier note when oak-aged. Easy, sunny wines for roast meats and sobrassada.

Manto Negro: soft, pale, fruity red; the island's most planted grape.

Mallorca's signature red, grown almost nowhere else. The wines are pale, soft and light-bodied, with red-fruit flavours, and are meant to be drunk young. It is usually blended with firmer Callet.

Mallorca's signature red, grown almost nowhere else. The wines are pale, soft and light-bodied, with red-fruit flavours, and are meant to be drunk young. It is usually blended with firmer Callet.

Staple: a Binissalem red, such as José L. Ferrer Veritas Crianza.

Soft, fruity and easy. Veritas is the mainstream line from one of the DO's longest-established houses, and a crianza is the best-value step up from a young red.

Soft, fruity and easy. Veritas is the mainstream line from one of the DO's longest-established houses, and a crianza is the best-value step up from a young red.

Callet: Pla i Llevant's flagship red; fruity, mouth-filling, smooth.

Now the leading grape of the south-east. Callet gives fruit-driven reds with smooth tannins and, from old vines in good soil, a mineral, structured side. It gives Manto Negro blends their backbone.

Now the leading grape of the south-east. Callet gives fruit-driven reds with smooth tannins and, from old vines in good soil, a mineral, structured side. It gives Manto Negro blends their backbone.

Celebration: Ànima Negra ÀN, the benchmark Callet.

Mineral, powerful and made in small quantities from old vines near Felanitx. Hard to find abroad, so buy on the island if you can. Son Negre is the collector's step beyond, if you find it.

Mineral, powerful and made in small quantities from old vines near Felanitx. Hard to find abroad, so buy on the island if you can. Son Negre is the collector's step beyond, if you find it.

Mallorca's low-intervention edge: orange, carbonic, organic and biodynamic wines.

A small group of producers goes against the sunny-red stereotype: skin-contact orange wine, carbonic-maceration reds and whites, organic ranges and a biodynamic blend. They sit under DO or Vi de la Terra labels, so look to the producer.

A small group of producers goes against the sunny-red stereotype: skin-contact orange wine, carbonic-maceration reds and whites, organic ranges and a biodynamic blend. They sit under DO or Vi de la Terra labels, so look to the producer.

Skin-contact orange wine is made by a few island producers.

White grapes left in contact with their skins give orange wines with texture and grip. Macià Batle and Tianna Negre both list one.

White grapes left in contact with their skins give orange wines with texture and grip. Macià Batle and Tianna Negre both list one.

Pla i Llevant reds: Callet-led, fruity and smooth, from the island's warm south-east.

The south-east plain and east coast, around Felanitx, Manacor and Santanyí, is Callet country. Reds are fruit-driven, mouth-filling and smooth, with Manto Negro and Fogoneu in support. Many of the island's most ambitious modern reds come from here.

The south-east plain and east coast, around Felanitx, Manacor and Santanyí, is Callet country. Reds are fruit-driven, mouth-filling and smooth, with Manto Negro and Fogoneu in support. Many of the island's most ambitious modern reds come from here.

Limestone and clay: Call Vermell red clay is the east's signature.

Binissalem's soils are low in nutrients with lime over clay. Pla i Llevant's vineyards sit on lime-rich clay, with red, iron-rich Call Vermell the most distinctive soil, over limestone bedrock.

Binissalem's soils are low in nutrients with lime over clay. Pla i Llevant's vineyards sit on lime-rich clay, with red, iron-rich Call Vermell the most distinctive soil, over limestone bedrock.

Roast pork or lamb with a Callet-led Pla i Llevant red.

Pork is the island's everyday meat, so a Callet-led red with smooth tannins and mineral edge is the natural partner. Choose a Binissalem crianza for lighter dishes.

Pork is the island's everyday meat, so a Callet-led red with smooth tannins and mineral edge is the natural partner. Choose a Binissalem crianza for lighter dishes.

Check before you go — details here may have changed.

Island Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah and Chardonnay: ripe, rounded wines outside the local grapes.

Many Mallorcan estates also bottle international varieties, often as Vi de la Terra. These are ripe, smooth, easy wines, good if you want something familiar, but the local grapes are the reason to come.

Many Mallorcan estates also bottle international varieties, often as Vi de la Terra. These are ripe, smooth, easy wines, good if you want something familiar, but the local grapes are the reason to come.

Oak-aged crianza-style reds are common in Binissalem.

Many Binissalem houses release a crianza or Reserva-style red. Manto Negro responds well to oak, but it can oxidise, so the best are made to be drunk within a few years of release.

Many Binissalem houses release a crianza or Reserva-style red. Manto Negro responds well to oak, but it can oxidise, so the best are made to be drunk within a few years of release.

Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera: a few small estates, sold as island Vi de la Terra.

Beyond Mallorca the islands make little wine, almost all of it as Vi de la Terra. Menorca has a few small modern wineries, one with a vineyard restaurant. Treat the smaller islands as a discovery: taste on the spot rather than hunting abroad.

Beyond Mallorca the islands make little wine, almost all of it as Vi de la Terra. Menorca has a few small modern wineries, one with a vineyard restaurant. Treat the smaller islands as a discovery: taste on the spot rather than hunting abroad.

Carbonic maceration makes juicy, light, fruity island wines.

Macià Batle makes carbonic-maceration reds, rosés and whites. Whole bunches ferment inside the skin, giving fresh, grapey fruit and little tannin.

Macià Batle makes carbonic-maceration reds, rosés and whites. Whole bunches ferment inside the skin, giving fresh, grapey fruit and little tannin.

Orange or biodynamic: Macià Batle Orange Wine or Mesquida Mora Trispol.

Two different takes on low-intervention Mallorca: skin-contact white, and a biodynamic native-and-international blend.

Two different takes on low-intervention Mallorca: skin-contact white, and a biodynamic native-and-international blend.

José L. Ferrer: the Binissalem name for classic crianzas; also makes sparkling.

A long-established house, based in the town of Binissalem and taking visits by request. Veritas is the everyday-to-special red line, Pedra de Binissalem the step up.

José L. Ferrer is based on Carrer del Conquistador in the town of Binissalem and describes itself as almost a century of family legacy. Its range reads like a map of the island's grapes: the product titles name Callet, Mantonegro, Giró Ros, Moll and Gorgollassa alongside Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Veritas is the main line, with Pedra de Binissalem as its more serious sibling, plus DUES, Ferreret and Nàutic for lighter drinking. The Special Editions are where it gets interesting: Pep Perico, a sweet cask-aged Vi Ranci Dolç de Bota, and Brut Millesimé, a vintage sparkling. A tasting here covers still, sparkling and sweet in one house; visits are requested through a form on its site.

4 Kilos: art-driven modern producer; 12 Volts is the Callet-led red to try.

A small producer with distinctive labels and a wide range of bottlings by vintage. 12 Volts is the Callet-dominant blend at the centre of the range.

4 Kilos is a hard producer to place and that is part of the draw. The website works like a gallery, with project titles in place of tasting notes, but the wine list is clear: the namesake 4Kilos red, released by vintage from 2006 to 2018; 12Volts, which Wine with Seth identifies as a Callet-dominant blend; Gallinas & Focas, Grimalt Caballero, Valiente and Ocho Sangrías; a Moteur Pistache rosé; and the Motor series, including Motor Callet and Motor América. Call Vermell is named after the red, iron-rich clay that marks the Pla i Llevant. The listed vineyards are Son Roig, Albocasser, Es Puput and Son Nadal. Start with 12Volts, then compare with Motor Callet for pure Callet.

Ànima Negra: Felanitx estate; ÀN, from Callet, is the flagship.

Founded in 1994 at the old Son Burguera estate. ÀN, made from Callet, is described by the producer as mineral, wild and powerful; ÀN2 is the fresher, lighter sibling.

Ànima Negra was born in 1994, when Miquel Àngel Cerdá and Pere Obrador began making wine at Son Burguera near Felanitx, an estate with winemaking links reaching back to the eighth century. ÀN, a Callet wine, is the flagship the winery itself calls mineral, wild and powerful; ÀN2 is a fresher, tastier wine from indigenous varieties; AN'R is a Callet rosé from the shallow, limestone-rich Son Negre area. The grapes come from roughly 150 micro-parcels around Felanitx, with hand harvesting, optical sorting and gravity-fed handling. The wines now sell in more than 40 countries. Buy ÀN for the gift or celebration slot.

Son Negre: Ànima Negra's rare wine from its oldest vines.

Released only in exceptional years after extended ageing, and created with the artist Miquel Barceló. A collector's bottle, rarely seen outside the island.

Son Negre is the rarest wine in the Ànima Negra range and the one the estate treats as its statement of place. It comes from the winery's oldest vines in the Son Negre vineyard area, a site of shallow, limestone-rich soil with high mineral content (the same soil gives the AN'R rosé its reddish tint). The wine is made only in exceptional years, then given extended ageing before release, and it was created together with the painter Miquel Barceló. The estate also takes its native yeast strains for the whole winery from this vineyard, selected over many years, so the site's influence runs through the whole range. Expect small quantities and a high price; buy it on the island when you see it.

Old vines in tiny parcels, among fruit trees and sea breezes.

Ànima Negra works roughly 150 micro-parcels near Felanitx plus five vineyards in the east. The vines grow among apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees with forest and sea breeze nearby.

Mallorcan top wine is made from fragments. Ànima Negra's farming is the clearest example: its fruit comes from about 150 micro-parcels within a 10 km radius of the winery in Felanitx, plus five vineyards on the east side of the island. Old vines of Callet, Manto Negro, Fogoneu, Premsal Blanc and Giró Ros are planted in diverse soils, among apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees, with forests close by and good exposure to sea breezes. That patchwork lets the winery blend or bottle by site and keeps each small crop from over-ripening. The result is the combination the best island wines show: concentration without heaviness, and a mineral, almost salty finish. It also explains why quantities are small and prices are high.

Quíbia: a white wine from black grapes, salty and fine.

Ànima Negra's unusual white is pressed from black grapes. The producer describes it as mineral, saline and elegant, from old vines that feel the sea breeze.

Quíbia is the odd one out in a range built on red Callet. According to the producer, it is made from black grapes that are vinified as a white wine: the juice is run off before it picks up colour, so the wine looks white but starts from red-skinned fruit. The old vines grow close enough to the sea to catch its breezes, and the winery describes the result as defined by minerality, salinity and elegance rather than by fruit. It is a wine for seafood and for anyone who likes saline whites, and a good reminder that Mallorca's best growers are as interested in texture and place as in ripe fruit.

Macià Batle: Santa Maria del Camí estate; wide range, winery museum.

A Binissalem-area house that shows its winemaking to visitors on a tour with a guided tasting. Its red tier runs from Reserva Privada to the Art-range Reserve and Special Edition wines.

Macià Batle is the Binissalem producer to visit if you want to see the full spread of Mallorcan styles in one tasting. The estate sits at Santa Maria del Camí, runs a winery museum, and takes visitors on a tour that ends with a guided tasting of white, rosé, red and dessert wines. The range is wide: a Blanc de Blancs, Sauvignon Blanc (one fermented in barrel), an orange wine, carbonic-maceration reds, rosés and whites, the Xeremia and Margalida Llompart labels, and an 'Art' range of Reserve and Special Edition reds including Macià Batalla 1856. For classic Binissalem red, start with the Reserva Privada or Col·lecció Privada.

Mountains and sea: shelter from northern winds, cooling breezes from the coast.

In Binissalem the Serra de Tramuntana and Alfabia ranges shield the vines from cold northern winds; in the east, sea breezes keep the long, dry summer in check.

In Binissalem the Serra de Tramuntana and Alfabia ranges shield the vines from cold northern winds; in the east, sea breezes keep the long, dry summer in check.

In the glass: Ripe fruit with enough freshness to avoid a baked taste

Limestone and clay: Call Vermell red clay is the east's signature.

Binissalem's soils are low in nutrients with lime over clay. Pla i Llevant's vineyards sit on lime-rich clay, with red, iron-rich Call Vermell the most distinctive soil, over limestone bedrock.

Binissalem's soils are low in nutrients with lime over clay. Pla i Llevant's vineyards sit on lime-rich clay, with red, iron-rich Call Vermell the most distinctive soil, over limestone bedrock.

In the glass: Mineral edge and moderate yields

Gentle altitude in Binissalem and low-lying vines in the east.

Binissalem's vineyards sit on rolling plateau hills that keep nights cooler; Pla i Llevant is mostly lower and warmer, with a long sunny season. Two island zones, two styles.

Binissalem's vineyards sit on rolling plateau hills that keep nights cooler; Pla i Llevant is mostly lower and warmer, with a long sunny season. Two island zones, two styles.

In the glass: Binissalem is lighter and fresher; Pla i Llevant riper and fuller

Old vines in tiny parcels, among fruit trees and sea breezes.

Ànima Negra works roughly 150 micro-parcels near Felanitx plus five vineyards in the east. The vines grow among apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees with forest and sea breeze nearby.

Mallorcan top wine is made from fragments. Ànima Negra's farming is the clearest example: its fruit comes from about 150 micro-parcels within a 10 km radius of the winery in Felanitx, plus five vineyards on the east side of the island. Old vines of Callet, Manto Negro, Fogoneu, Premsal Blanc and Giró Ros are planted in diverse soils, among apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees, with forests close by and good exposure to sea breezes. That patchwork lets the winery blend or bottle by site and keeps each small crop from over-ripening. The result is the combination the best island wines show: concentration without heaviness, and a mineral, almost salty finish. It also explains why quantities are small and prices are high.

In the glass: Concentration, mineral tension and freshness in the best Callet

From big vineyards to almonds and back: a young, small-scale wine scene.

Before phylloxera in the late 19th century Mallorca had a large vineyard area and exported wine in bulk. Afterwards most vines were replaced with almond trees. The modern scene is a late-20th-century revival driven partly by visitors wanting good local wine.

Before phylloxera in the late 19th century Mallorca had a large vineyard area and exported wine in bulk. Afterwards most vines were replaced with almond trees. The modern scene is a late-20th-century revival driven partly by visitors wanting good local wine.

In the glass: Mostly small, family-run estates making modern, fruit-forward wines

Blending is the local method: soft Manto Negro plus firmer Callet.

Manto Negro alone is pale and meant to be drunk young. Adding Callet gives colour, structure and staying power, which is how most Binissalem reds are built.

Manto Negro alone is pale and meant to be drunk young. Adding Callet gives colour, structure and staying power, which is how most Binissalem reds are built.

In the glass: Balance of soft red fruit and grip

Oak-aged crianza-style reds are common in Binissalem.

Many Binissalem houses release a crianza or Reserva-style red. Manto Negro responds well to oak, but it can oxidise, so the best are made to be drunk within a few years of release.

Many Binissalem houses release a crianza or Reserva-style red. Manto Negro responds well to oak, but it can oxidise, so the best are made to be drunk within a few years of release.

In the glass: Spice and vanilla over soft red fruit

Carbonic maceration makes juicy, light, fruity island wines.

Macià Batle makes carbonic-maceration reds, rosés and whites. Whole bunches ferment inside the skin, giving fresh, grapey fruit and little tannin.

Macià Batle makes carbonic-maceration reds, rosés and whites. Whole bunches ferment inside the skin, giving fresh, grapey fruit and little tannin.

In the glass: Juicy, bright, low tannin; best chilled

Skin-contact orange wine is made by a few island producers.

White grapes left in contact with their skins give orange wines with texture and grip. Macià Batle and Tianna Negre both list one.

White grapes left in contact with their skins give orange wines with texture and grip. Macià Batle and Tianna Negre both list one.

In the glass: Dry, textured, tea-like grip with dried-fruit notes

Gravity-fed handling, hand harvests and estate-selected native yeast.

Ànima Negra harvests by hand, sorts optically, uses gravity rather than pumps, and ferments with native yeast strains selected from its Son Negre vineyard over many years.

Ànima Negra describes a deliberately gentle cellar. Grapes are picked by hand from roughly 150 micro-parcels, sorted optically, and moved by gravity rather than pumped, which limits bruising and harsh extraction in thin-skinned grapes like Callet. Fermentation is with indigenous yeast: the winery has spent many years selecting strains from the Son Negre vineyard and uses them across its wines. The vines themselves grow among apricot, pear, peach, plum and cherry trees, with forest nearby and sea breezes, which keeps the site cool and varied.

In the glass: Fine tannins, mineral tension and a wine that speaks of site

Organic and biodynamic farming in the Mallorcan sun.

Tianna Negre labels many wines organic, and Mesquida Mora is described as biodynamic. Dry, sunny weather makes organic viticulture easier on the island than in many wetter regions.

Tianna Negre labels many wines organic, and Mesquida Mora is described as biodynamic. Dry, sunny weather makes organic viticulture easier on the island than in many wetter regions.

In the glass: Often livelier fruit and clearer sense of place