Mallorca's Bodegas Ribas is the third oldest winery in Spain, according to Ribas family member and current winemaker Araceli Severa. The estate now produces 130,000 bottles a year from their 40 hectare holding around Consell, near Binissalem, the island's main wine town.
We were fortunate enough to be given a tasting by the lovely Araceli when we visited the bodegas on a very hot day in June. For her part she was forced to suffer the misfortune of witnessing two large, doughy Irish boys drip sweat all over her air-conditioned tasting room. There are some things which science cannot explain, eg why my sternum sweated profusely throughout the tasting. Anyway...
Araceli is the chief winemaker at Ribas and has an impressive pedigree, having worked with Clos Magodor, Clos Erasmus and Mas Martinet in Priorat, Achaval Ferrer in Argentina and Harlan Estate in Napa. This is an incredible array of some of the world's very finest estates, albeit all perennial high scorers with a certain American gentleman.
Ribas were amongst the first producers to plant international varieties in Mallorca, blending them with native grapes to compensate for some of the short comings of their indigenous varietals.
Prensal Blanc or Moll is the primary native white varietal on the island. Araceli explained that Prensal is a fairly neutral grape and tends to lack structure and aroma. As such it definitely benefits from blending with more aromatic varietals. Chardonnay is the main partner used in such blends throughout the island, see for example Macia Batle's blanc de blanc and Ribas' own Ribas Blanc.
As is often the way with tastings at family run winerys, things started in fairly shambolic fashion. We were offered a tasting of the Ribas Blanc 2009 upon arrival whils one of the staff who then left to fetch Araceli. Although it wasn't oxidised the wine was dead in the glass, and flat-lining on the palate. I glanced at my companion who was making a similar 'this is going to be terrible'grimace.
Still no sign of Araceli, and we were poured a glass of Ribas Rose 2009, which was equally dead. A long, and dreadful afternoon loomed ahead of us.
All this changed with the arrival of Araceli. Taking a sniff of our glasses, she dumped everything in sight with profuse apologies. She and the wine team had just returned from a week's trip to Bordeaux and no-one had bothered to check the freshness of the sample bottles in their absence.
She opened a fresh bottle of Ribas Blanc, which was unfortunately badly corked, and dumped this too. A third bottle of Ribas Blanc was opened and was utterly different from the first two. The defective cork was pocketed to be shown to her brother, who is in charge of cork purchasing, and the tasting began.
It turned out that Araceli had spent time in the rural county Cavan in her teenage years. Her father had decided to spend a couple of months fishing in the lakes and a thirteen year old Aracelli was forced to accompany him on this adventure. I am not sure that she remembered this trip with a particular fondness! We apologised as best we could and went on with the tasting.
Ribas Blanc 2009, Bodegas Ribas. 13% alc, 7.60 euro.
' Peachy and lactic with faint whiff of emmental. Nice lifted aromatics and some minerality too. Not hugely complex.'
The unoaked Ribas Blanc is currently a blend of 85% Prensal around 10% Chardonnay and the remainder is unlabeled Viognier. Araceli explained that Ribas had been amongst the first to plant chardonnay in Mallorca, and were now the first to start grubbing it up. The family have been experimenting with Viognier, but are now also looking into Chenin which can be used to add both aromatics and acidity to the Prensal.
The 'Ribas' entry level range also has as tinto blend of Mantonegro, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot ( previous vintage sold out, 2009 not yet released), and a rosado ( Mantonegro, Callet and Merlot) which we decided to forego tasting.
The upper range is called Sio.
The Sio Blanc 2007 is a blend of Prensal, Chardonnay, Viognier and unlabeled Chenin. The wine spends 6 months in new French oak. Unsurprisingly this was more complex than the Ribas Blanc. The aromatics were more interestinng, and complex and there was a salty lick of minerality on the palate. This was medium weighted and pretty good, although it failed to shine served with seafood paella at a dinner later on that week. The 2007, was being replaced by the 2008 the week we were tasting.
The Sio Tinto 2008 14.5%, 13 euro (?) is a blend of 55-60% native Mantonegro coupled with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Mantonegro is one of the two main native varietals used in the production of red wines, the other being Callet.
Mantonegro is a clone of Grenache, and suffers from the same tendencies towards lack of structure and high alcohol. It is bloody hot on the planes in Mallorca, where the majority of wines are grown, and this definitely comes out in the alcohol levels in the wine.
Sio Tinto spends 12 months in French oak, 50% of which is new, and 50% of which is 2nd use. The Cabernet certainly came through on the nose, as did a fair whack of alcohol. This was ripe, with plenty of black fruit and some plums too. Big alcohol but very pleasant, with a big dollop of oak into the bargain. I have a bottle stashed for winter- or later this summer depending on the weather, and will add a note in due course.
Ribas de Cabrera 2006. This is the luxury cuvee from Ribas developed in conjunction with the Perez family from Clos Martinet. This is a blend Mantonegro, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. 14.5% alc. 15 months in new French oak and 45 euro, an incredible amount for a wine from the island. This smelled and tasted of far more than anything near 14.5% alc, even with the permitted .5% margin of error. I asked Araceli and she was honest enough to admit that this monster weighted in at a massive 15.3% alcohol! The nose was full of big gobs of alcohol with minerality, Bovril and new oak. Definitely not my sort of wine, and I really don't see how this is going to come together into something more elegant, especially given the short aging capacity of most Mallorquin wines. There is plenty of flavour here but the alcohol is overbearing. Not my style of wine at all. No thank you.
In conclusion, we couldn't have asked for a more pleasant, informative and accomodating host than Aracelli. The wines are definitely good, although the alcohol levels take some getting used to. For me the Ribas de Cabrera is just too big and overblown. I am looking forward to trying the Sio red again and seeing how it is. The wines are definitely worth looking out for if you are in Mallorca.
