Bodegas José L. Ferrer

José L. Ferrer is the winery where the story of bottled wine on Mallorca begins — a family-run bodega at the entrance to Binissalem, around 25 kilometres northeast of Palma. Founded in 1931, it is one of the island's oldest and best-known wineries and still shapes the D.O. Binissalem today. What Makes José L. Ferrer Special This is where island wine history was written: Ferrer was the first on Mallorca to age wine in oak barrels, bottle it for sale and export it. Inside the historic walls you'll still find the concrete tanks from the 1930s, in use to this day, alongside the very first wines ever commercialised on the island. With roughly 800,000 to 900,000 bottles a year, Ferrer is also one of Mallorca's largest and most organised houses — tradition at scale, without losing its handwriting. Wines & Grape Varieties At the heart of the cellar are the indigenous varieties of the D.O. Binissalem: the red Manto Negro and the white Moll. Alongside them grow Callet and international classics such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Chardonnay. These feed several lines — the traditional José L. Ferrer wines, the modern Veritas range, the Dues cuvées blending one Mallorcan and one international variety, and the organic Pedra de Binissalem wines. The flagships include the José L. Ferrer Reserva, the Veritas Brut Nature — one of the few cavas made on the island — and the white Ferreret Giró Ros. The Veritas Reserva is aged for at least 36 months, including 18 to 24 in French oak, and is built on old, hand-harvested Manto Negro and Callet vines. Tastings & Tours You book a guided tour through the historic and modern cellars, meet the family, the vines and the winemaking, and finish with a tasting. Several programmes are on offer — from the shorter Moll tasting to the Mantonegro tour with four premium wines, and the Wine & Chocolate option, where four Veritas wines meet chocolate infused with Mallorcan oranges, almonds and salt. Island classics such as Mahón cheese and Quelitas crackers come alongside. Booking ahead is worth it, especially in high season. Classic tastings also come with cheese, chorizo, olives, crackers and homemade grape jam. An on-site wine shop lets you take bottles home or have them delivered, and the car park, entrance and toilets are wheelchair accessible, with free street parking available nearby too. History & Terroir The house was founded by José Luis Ferrer Ramonell — at the age of 28, under its original name, Vinícola de Binissalem. His aim was clear: to turn Mallorcan grapes into wines that could compete internationally. Today the third and fourth generations run the bodega and are driving the shift toward fully organic viticulture. Binissalem itself is a quiet, authentic town in the island's interior, sheltered by the Serra de Tramuntana — a terroir that gives the wines their Mediterranean, unmistakably Mallorcan character.