Bodegues Ribas: The Oldest Winery on the Island
Last week, I visited the oldest winery on the island with my cousin. We drove to the little village of Consell and got a tour of the winery and the Ribas house that dates back to the 18th century. To top it all off, we got to taste three different wines while we ate Mallorcan bread and fresh olive oil.
The Ribas winery was founded in 1711. The United States didn't even exist yet. They grow several types of Mallorcan grapes and harvest them by hand, producing an average of 150,000 bottles of wine each year. We got to taste some grapes that had just been harvested and were getting ready to be pressed. Our tour guide also took us to see the huge tanks they used to ferment the wine. We saw the cellar full of wooden barrels, and inside the cellar was also a very old traditional Mallorcan barrel that was humongous.
After the tour of the winery, we walked over to the Ribas family's home. It was built in 1776, the year the United States were born, and it has been kept in immaculate condition. Some members of the family still live there today. We got to step inside the traditional Mallorcan kitchen and take some photos before we walked out to the back yard to taste some wines.
They had tables set up outside for us that each had a pitcher of water, some crackers, and three wine glasses per person. As they opened wine bottles for us to taste a couple types of wine, baskets of bread and bowls of olive oil were brought to our tables for us to snack on. The traditional way to eat the bread is to spoon some olive oil on top and then sprinkle on some sea salt before you eat it. It was heavenly.
We then got to taste a white wine and two red wines, each made with a different grape variety. They were very good. I personally think the bread and beautiful garden we were sitting in made all the difference. There were four other people on the tour with us, and we were left to eat and drink and told to take our time. We all ended up talking, and I got to practice my Spanish with a Spanish couple from Barcelona, a girl from the States, and a man from another part of Europe (I can't remember where he was from, oops!).
The Ribas winery was founded in 1711. The United States didn't even exist yet. They grow several types of Mallorcan grapes and harvest them by hand, producing an average of 150,000 bottles of wine each year. We got to taste some grapes that had just been harvested and were getting ready to be pressed. Our tour guide also took us to see the huge tanks they used to ferment the wine. We saw the cellar full of wooden barrels, and inside the cellar was also a very old traditional Mallorcan barrel that was humongous.
 |
| The old barrels that were used when the winery first opened |
After the tour of the winery, we walked over to the Ribas family's home. It was built in 1776, the year the United States were born, and it has been kept in immaculate condition. Some members of the family still live there today. We got to step inside the traditional Mallorcan kitchen and take some photos before we walked out to the back yard to taste some wines.
They had tables set up outside for us that each had a pitcher of water, some crackers, and three wine glasses per person. As they opened wine bottles for us to taste a couple types of wine, baskets of bread and bowls of olive oil were brought to our tables for us to snack on. The traditional way to eat the bread is to spoon some olive oil on top and then sprinkle on some sea salt before you eat it. It was heavenly.
We then got to taste a white wine and two red wines, each made with a different grape variety. They were very good. I personally think the bread and beautiful garden we were sitting in made all the difference. There were four other people on the tour with us, and we were left to eat and drink and told to take our time. We all ended up talking, and I got to practice my Spanish with a Spanish couple from Barcelona, a girl from the States, and a man from another part of Europe (I can't remember where he was from, oops!).
Comments
Post a Comment