The growth in the Mallorcan wine sector has been significant over the 20 years we’ve lived on the island. And that growth hasn’t been only in the number of wineries but also in the quality and uniqueness of the wines produced. Today, Mallorca has around 100 bodegas, with the oldest (Bodega Ribas) dating from 1711.

Exciting new wineries have opened in recent years – some of them owned by foreign residents of Mallorca – and the viticulture/viniculture scene on the island still has the potential for further development.

How to find out about Mallorca’s bodegas and wine

The new hardback book, Mallorca & Wine – The Bodegas and Their Stories, is an excellent introduction to the Mallorcan wine scene and some of the best bodegas and wines on the island. Its authors (and publishers) are Jürgen Mathäss, Thilo Weimar, and Wolf Wilder. It’s a beautifully produced book that not only looks good but is packed with evidence of the authors’ enthusiasm for wines and the painstaking research that went into it. It’s the book I’d love to have written.

Mallorca & Wine starts with a look at Mallorca’s wine history, terroir, and grape varieties, and a couple of interviews with experts in this field (Ferran Centelles, who writes for Master of Wine, Jancis Robinson, and Gabriel Lucas, wine consultant and educator, who was voted Spain’s best sommelier in 2021). The largest section of the book comprises fascinating textual and photographic portraits of 55 wineries on the island.

There’s a chapter about wine enthusiasts and investors and how to have your own label wine if you own a vineyard in Mallorca but not the facility for making wine. The remainder of the 224-page book comprises wine-related activities in Mallorca, information about hotels with a particular affinity for wine (including two of my favourites, Can Beneït and El Coto), wine stores, and restaurants and wine bars with notable wine selections.

Here are some photos from the Mallorca book launch at Rialto Living on 9th May:

Where to buy Mallorca & Wine

You’ll find Mallorca & Wine – in separate English and German editions – for sale in the lifestyle store Rialto Living in Palma. It’s also available in English and German on Amazon Germany and will soon be available on Amazon.com.

You can also buy a copy at Finca Can Coll in Sóller, which offers a by-appointment-only unique wine-tasting experience.

This impressive book costs 40€ on the island. Someone suggested to me that this was a lot of money but, as an author myself (the novel Daughter of Deià), I can appreciate the huge amount of work, time, and expertise that has gone into the publication of Mallorca & Wine. In my opinion, this book is worth the money if you want to do as Wolf wrote when he signed the book I bought: ‘Explore the island one glass at a time.’

Jan Edwards ©2024