Wine tasting at a family-run winery near Santa Maria

The winery lies at the foot of the Tramuntana, where the soil turns red and cool air comes down from the mountains at night — the reason why wine that’s actually worth drinking grows here at all. The tour begins between the rows of vines. You’ll hear about Manto Negro and Callet, two varieties found almost nowhere else, and why phylloxera nearly destroyed everything in the 19th century. After that, you head into the cellar, where it’s fifteen degrees and smells of oak. You’ll taste four wines, two white and two red, along with bread, cheese, olives, and almonds from the area. If you have questions, the best person to ask is the winemaker himself — he still leads most of the visits personally.