Finca Son Bordils has won so many plaudits you’d expect Ramón Coll’s wine, well, to have gone to his head. But the co-owner of the bodega, one of Mallorca’s largest in terms of production, is refreshingly down-to-earth when it comes to talking about his output. Forget all that sales-talk you’ve heard about the special character of Mallorcan wines, says Ramón. Here on the island, yes the wine’s good, sometimes superb –but hardly unique.
“You know, some people are convinced Mallorca is like the Galapagos Islands, cut off from the rest of the world,” he laughs. “But Mallorca is just like anywhere else. We’ve been modifying our grapes over the years, through trial and error, incorporating some, getting rid of others, just like everywhere else. And you’ll find the same variety all over the Mediterranean. Mallorcan wine is simply the wine produced in Mallorca.”
In the case of Finca Son Bordils, a 34-hectare estate in the rolling countryside just south of Inca, that means full and meaty reds from Cabernet and Merlot, spicy Shiraz, fruity cocktails of Merlot, local stars Manto Negro and Callet, Cabernet, silky Chardonnay whites, Mosacatels, and native Prensals.
Critics and public alike have been won over by ripe, tingly tanins and the fruity, peppery flavors and there’s not a great deal left over for export, with some 65% of production downed locally, with most of the rest going to Germany.
“Our customers associate Son Bordils with quality,” says Ramón. “They may not like a particular wine, because of its character. But we try to make sure we have one for every taste.”
The history of the vineyard stretches back to 1433, January 18, to be precise, when Joan Bordils i Pont bought an estate to the south-east of Inca. By the middle of the 15th century, the Bordils finca was already producing significant quantities of wine and the family maintained ownership until the dynasty died out in 1808.
The Boneo-Villalonga family and, later, the Villalonga-Escalada families took over and by 1860 the estate had grown to 604 hectares, making it one of the top three Mallorcan wine producers. And just as well, for demand over the following years was to soar.
In 1861 the phylloxera plague ravaged the vineyards of France. All over Mallorca, as yet untouched by the attack, vineyards struggled to keep pace with the insatiable thirst for wine to the north. Up to 300,000 hectares were given over to vineyards, and estate owners bottled until-then undreamed-of fortunes.
And then in 1891, the inevitable happened – phylloxera hit, destroying 90 per cent of the vineyards. At Son Bordils, even though American stock was introduced at the beginning of the 20th century, the estate’s glory days had passed. The old cellar closed in 1922.
1n 1991, one hundred years after the phylloxera attack, the estate once again changed owners and the Coll Pastor family began a four-year planting programme which was to draw 26 hectares into production. Ironically, the vines, even the “native” Mallorcan varieties, came from France, inverting the wine-trade route of the previous century. For the reds, the estate planted Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Manto Negro, Monastrell, Shiraz and Callet, while for the whites, Chardonnay, Muscat and Prensal Blanc.
The harvest is carried out manually and, with the bodega at the center of the vineyard, grapes never spend more than 15 minutes between being cut and taken in, to be refrigerated if necessary.
Production, these days, is modest, around 200,000 liters a year, and explains Ramón, Finca Son Bordils obviously doesn’t have the marketing muscle other larger bodegas have.
“We’re not a huge company with a vast advertising budget. Our wine has to speak for itself,” he says. “We’re quite purist, in the sense that we’re aware that we have to look after the brand and ensure that no wine comes out of here that doesn’t make the grade.”
Finca Son Bordils
Carretera Inca-Sineu, Km. 4.1
Mon-Fri: 9am-1pm and 3pm-6pm
Tel: 971 182 200 www.sonbordils.es
