Merlot

We Are Now Launching Our, Quite Possibly, Best Ever Organic Rosé Wine, the Fresh Roca Fesa 2015

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Roca Fesa 3

We are proud to present our new organic Rosé wine Roca Fesa 2015, probably the best Rosé wine we have ever made.

The Roca Fesa 2015 Rosé wine is a coupage of our Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes with a small amount of grapes of the Syrah variety. All our grapes were harvested by hand in the third week of September of last year on our land at Son Alegre near Santanyí in the southeast of Mallorca and brought to our own bodega in the village of Calonge. Our vineyard benefits from the Serra de Llevant’s moderating impact on climate as well as from the thermal conditions of the coastal area with its gently cooling Embat thermal wind.

Roca Fesa 6

The vinification of our Roca Fesa 2015 Rosé wine was done at our own bodega for the first time ever with the good help of our oenologist, Luis Armero González. The wine making was done under his supervision at a controlled temperature of between 15 and 18º C during the fermentation process with a maceration of 21 days. The fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks. The ageing process occurred over eight months in vats plus a further five weeks in the bottle.

Roca Fesa 11

The wine was bottled after a gentle clarification in May 2016. This year, the alcohol content is 13% Vol. Only 5,000 bottles were produced. If you are a small vineyard like us you don’t really aim for a high volume output. Quality comes before quantity. Your tastebuds will probably validate our convictions.

Roca Fesa 2

The Roca Fesa 2015 Rosé wine is best served chilled at a temperature of between 6 and 9º C and is best consumed during the hot days of our Mallorcan Summer.

The artwork for this wine’s label was painted by Llorenç Vidal Lledó. Thank you, Garrit.

Presenting Our New Organic Red Wine Penya Bosca 2014

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Penya Bosca 1

Son Alegre proudly presents the new organic red wine, Penya Bosca 2014, cultivated with great care from our Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah grapes at equal parts. All our vines are fostered according to EU organic farming standards following some basic biodynamic principles. Our vines were planted in 2004 and had an average age of ten years when the grapes were lovingly harvested by hand in September 2014.

Penya Bosca 4

The vinification of this wine happened in stainless steel tanks under strictly controlled conditions of temperatures between 23 and 25º C during the fermentation process, followed by a maceration practice of 20 days. The ageing process involved four months in stainless steel vats, six months in barriques of French oak of second and third use, and ten months in the bottle. The wine was bottled in October 2015. Only 2,000 bottles were produced in total. That’s not a lot; we know. But we are only a small vineyard and our growth will always be as organic as are our farming efforts.

Penya Bosca 2

Our Son Alegre Penya Bosca 2014 red wine has an alcohol content of 14.5% Vol. and is best served at 15 to 18º C. Penya Bosca 2014 is an authentic Mallorcan red wine with a rather balanced nose and a pleasant and intense finish in the mouth. This wine will age well over 5 to 8 years.

The paintings for this year’s Son Alegre wine labels were created by Llorenç Vidal Lledó, the Santanyí artist better known by his artist’s name, Garrit.

¡Salut!

One of Mallorca’s 101 Best Wines

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101 Best Wines 2

We are pleased and honoured to have one of our wines, Sa Porta Murada 2011, nominated as one of the 101 best wines of Mallorca. This organic wine is made of the Merlot grape grown on vines of an age of 7 years and is denominated as Vi de la Terra Mallorca. The wine was cultivated according to EU organic farming standards following some biodynamic principles. It was aged for 6 months in stainless steel tanks, 12 months in French oak barrels and a further 12 months in the bottle.

The nomination is part of abcMallorca’s 1st Wine Guide, a guide to 101 Best Wines of Mallorca which was published online and as a printed press magazine only a week ago. It retails at the larger newsagents in Mallorca for 6,95 €. If you are interested in the variety of current Mallorcan wine, this is the wine guide you should consult.

101 Best Wines 3

The magazine’s collaborator, Stephen Nickel, characterizes our Sa Porta Murada negre as follows:

A light cherry-coloured wine pours into the glass. The bouquet is exceptionally floral, with a little touch of herbs. The effect on the palate is fresh, with many fruity flavours. Even the finish in the mouth maintains this freshness.

Beautiful, fresh full-flavoured Merlot.

Sa Porta Murada

Unfortunately, our thus honoured wine is no longer available. Only 300 bottles were produced and they have now sold out. Sorry, but we are only a small vineyard. But still, we are happy and delighted that our oenological endeavours are being recognised by some wine connoisseurs.

If you would want to try one of our red wines of a comparable characteristic, why not try our S’Antigor 2012. This red wine is made from the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties, at a ratio of 50:50. Again, this is an organic wine categorized as a Vi de la Terra Mallorca and has been cultivated according to EU organic farming standards following some biodynamic principles. This wine, too, was aged for 6 months in stainless steel tanks, 12 months in French oak barrels and, again, for 12 months in the bottle. Its alcohol content is 15% vol. The wine was bottled in March 2014. Its colour has tones of dark red cherry. Its nose has a full earthiness with lots of character. Its palate is pleasant, with an edge of nobility.

The wine is best served at 15º. 

The S’Antigor 2012 wine will age well over 6 to 10 years.

The good news is that we have produced 2,000 bottles of this wine, and sufficient numbers are still available.

Cheers.

Launching Our Organic S’Antigor 2012 Red Wine

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Son Alegre Santanyí - S;Antigor Negre 2012 - Mallorca

We proudly present our new organic red wine S’Antigor Negre 2012, cultivated from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes at a 50:50 ratio. Our vines had an average age of 6 years when the grapes were lovingly harvested by hand on September 12th and 14th, 2012. All our vines are cultivated according to EU organic farming standards following some biodynamic principles.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Vinification of this wine happened under strictly controlled conditions of temperatures between 25 and 28º C during the fermentation process in stainless steel tanks, followed by a maceration practice of 20 days. The aging process involved six months in stainless steel tanks, twelve months in French oak barrels and twelve months in the bottle. The wine was bottled in March 2014. The alcohol content of this new wine is of 15% Vol. A total of only 2,000 bottles was produced. That’s not much but sorry, we are only a small vineyard.

Merlot

Our Son Alegre S’Antigor 2012 red wine will age well over 5 to 10 years and is best served at 15º C. S’Antigor 2012 is an elegant red wine and very pleasant to drink.

Son Alegre - S'Antigor_

For the design of the new wine’s label, Son Alegre last year initiated a design competition in collaboration with the Ajuntament de Santanyí, the Cultural Association Lausa of Santanyí and the Agrupación Folclórica Es Mayoral of Calonge. The artwork for the S’Antigor label was designed by Elena Sierra Forteza, the young lady in the centre of the photo below, next to the mayor of Santanyí, Don Llorenç Galmés Verger.

Certamen etiquetas Son Alegre Santanyí Mallorca

Illustrating The Son Alegre Grape Varieties

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Monastrell

Last week, and just before the autumnal rains set in, we finished harvesting our grapes of this year’s crop. The way it looks, it has been a good year, it has to be said. At the moment, we grow six different grape varieties at Vinya Son Alegre, four red (blue) ones and two white (green) ones.

The image above shows the Monastrell grape, a Navy blue grape variety with a small and compact grain of a spherical shape, and with a distinct flavor. This grape was probably introduced to the Iberian Peninsula and Catalonia in particular by the Phoenicians around 500 BC. We use the Monastrell grape in our Sant Andreu Negre 2010 wine as well as in our Ca’n Sureda Petit Ropit Negre 2010.

Merlot

This grape is of the Merlot variety. The Merlot grape has a dark blue colour. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of Merle noir, the French name for the Blackbird, probably in reference to the colour of the grape. The Merlot grape is used for our mono-varietal wines, Picarol Negre 2011 and Ca’n Sureda Merlot Negre 2010, as well as in our Picarol Rosat 2013 wine, our Es Pontàs Rosat 2013, our S’Antigor Negre 2012 (coming out soon) and our Ca’n Sureda Rosé Lucia 2012, which are all wines blended in combination with other grape varieties.

Syrah

This image shows the Syrah grape. The Syrah is a small-berried grape variety with a dark blue skin of an Indigo blue colour. The name Syrah originates from the areas of northern France. When it reaches perfect maturity, wine connoisseurs consider this grape as one of the greatest for wine. Perfect maturity is not easy to be reached with this grape. The Syrah grape is rather vulnerable; it can easily be harvested just a tad too soon or it will suffer when it is harvested a few days too late. We hope we have got it right this year; fingers crossed. We use this grape in our Sa Porta Murada Negre 2011 wine as well as in our Picarol Rosat 2013 and our Es Pontàs Rosat 2013 wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon

This image shows the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape variety with a dark blue colour, almost Midnight blue, originating in the French region of Bordeaux. The plant is vigorous and well suited for warm climates with relatively low humidity. Cabernet Sauvignon is most widely distributed throughout the world among a diverse spectrum of climates. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape is used in our Picarol Rosat 2013 and our Es Pontàs Rosat 2013 wines, as well as in our S’Antigor Negre 2012 and our Ca’n Sureda Rosé Lucia 2012 wines.

We are preparing to plant vines of the Callet grape variety early next year, an indigenous grape variety of Mallorca and in particular of the Felanitx and Santanyí region. We will show you photos of the Callet grape as soon as it will be grown and ripened, probably not before 2016. Patience and victory are twin brothers, for victory comes with patience.

Malvasía

This photo shows the Malvasía grape. Our Malvasía grape is the Balearic variety of a green grape historically used to make dessert wine due to the presence of some residual sugar. The Malvasía grape is said to be of ancient Greek origin. There is also a red Malvasía negra grape variety but we do not grow that one (yet). We use the Malvasía grape for our Picarol Blanc 2013 and our Es Pontàs Blanc 2013 wines, as well as our Ca’n Sureda Blancs 2012.

Chardonnay

The image above shows the Chardonnay grape. Chardonnay is a green grape variety with origins in the Burgundy region of eastern France, giving the wine a medium to light body. The grape is small and round and acquires a melon tone when fermented. The Chardonnay grape is used in our Picarol Blanc 2013 and our Es Pontàs Blanc 2013 wines, as well as our Ca’n Sureda Blancs 2012.

Earlier this year, we planted vines of two more green grape varieties, the Giró ros grape, another autochthonous grape variety of Mallorca as well as the Viognier, a white grape originating in the Rhine valley, especially in the department of Rhone (France). We will be able to show you photos of these two grapes in the autumn of 2015. The vines are doing well at the moment; the have taken root and are doing fine, but the grapes have not developed yet.

All photos shown above were taken by our friend and collaborator, John Hinde, as were in fact most of the photos used on this blog. Thank you, John.

The texts of this blog have so far always been written by Klaus Fabricius, just in case you wanted to know.

Picking The Merlot Grapes

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Merlot

For the last two days, we have been busy picking our Merlot grapes at Vinya Son Alegre. This is a blue grape variety. Wine made from the Merlot grape is characterized by its fineness and softness while being aromatic and almost meaty. The Merlot grape comes with a cylindrical bunch of small, sparse berries. Their grain is small and thick-skinned, with a blue-black color, and the pulp is sweet. This grape belongs to the same family as the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. Today I will leave you with a picture where you can see how the Merlot grapes are being selected before going to be pressed.

Merlot selection

Paying Homage to Pep Costa

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Vinya Son Alegre is proud to honour Don Pep Costa with our Picarol 2013 wine, available in Red (Merlot), White (Malvasía/Chardonnay) and Rosé (Merlot, Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon). Don Pep Costa was the founder of Cala d’Or (Mallorca) in 1933. He was locally known as ‘Picarol‘ and we respectfully chose his name to commemorate his life’s achievements with our wine.

A festive act was celebrated yesterday at Bar Fernando in Cala d’Or during the Fiestas de Santa Maria del Mar in the presence of Margarita Serra Costa, Picarol’s granddaughter, and Elena López-Gil, Don Pep’s Great-Granddaughter. Also present were the mayor of Santanyí, Llorenç Galmés, and a number of other political dignitaries. The eulogy was delivered by Miquel Manresa, founder and Managing Director of Vinya Son Alegre.

Picarol

¡Salut!