Spain · Balearic Islands

Vins Toni Gelabert

First-generation Mallorcan estate farming 7 hectares biodynamically near Manacor, producing 30,000 bottles across 13 varieties including indigenous Callet and recovered Giró Ros.

The producer

Toni Gelabert was the first person in his family to make wine. He planted his first vines in August 1996 on Mallorca's eastern interior, near Manacor, registered under D.O. Pla i Llevant, and had his bodega standing a year later. When he built it, he brought Feng Shui architects from Palma to orient the building. The bodega sits at an angle from the surrounding vineyard grid, positioned to channel light and energy through the working spaces. No other winery on the island had done this.

The estate farms 7 hectares across 13 varieties, biodynamically and following lunar cycles from the first season. The range runs to 5 whites, 1 rosé, and 7 reds, totalling 30,000 bottles annually. The planting decision was the recovery of Giró Ros, an indigenous white variety that had dwindled to a handful of surviving plants on the island. Gelabert located those plants, propagated them, and put in 1.5 hectares, producing a white wine called Torre des Canonge. The reds move from Son Fangos Negre, a Callet and Merlot blend aged 12 months in French and American oak, through the Bordeaux-influenced Ses Hereves, to Illenc at the top of the range.

Known for

Biodynamic farming on Mallorca with lunar cycle harvest scheduling, indigenous variety recovery including Giró Ros and Callet, and a Feng Shui-designed bodega.

Notable facts

The story

The Angled Bodega

When Toni Gelabert built his bodega in 1997, the year after he planted his first vines, he brought Feng Shui architects from Palma across the island to Manacor to orient the building. The bodega was not set square to the surrounding vineyard grid. Instead it was positioned at an angle, placed where the architects calculated light and energy would move most freely through the working spaces. Gelabert had no family wine tradition behind him and no local model to follow: the island barely had a wine industry at the time. He was making the whole thing up as he went, which may be why the Feng Shui seemed as reasonable as anything else. The building still stands at that angle, and the estate still makes wine inside it.

From the atlas

Vins Toni Gelabert

At A Glance

Producer: Vins Toni Gelabert Region: Balearic Islands, Spain Appellation: D.O. Pla i Llevant, Mallorca Farming: Biodynamic and organic Hectares: 7 Annual Production: 30,000 bottles Range: 5 whites, 1 rosé, 7 reds

The Producer

Toni Gelabert was the first person in his family to make wine. He planted his first vines in August 1996 on Mallorca's eastern interior, near Manacor, and had his bodega standing a year later. Mallorca had almost no serious wine production at that point, and no family template to follow.

The bodega itself tells you something about how he thinks. When Gelabert built it in 1997, he brought Feng Shui architects from Palma to orient the building. It sits at an angle from the surrounding vineyard grid, positioned to channel light and energy flow through the working spaces. No other winery on the island had done this.

The estate holds D.O. Pla i Llevant registration, the appellation that covers the eastern half of Mallorca, and farms 7 hectares across 13 varieties, producing 30,000 bottles annually.

Place

Mallorca's wine geography divides roughly between the mountainous north-west and the flatter, warmer interior east, where D.O. Pla i Llevant sits. The appellation label allows both indigenous Mallorcan varieties and international grapes, and the estates within it reflect that freedom: some have leaned hard into Bordeaux varieties, others have spent decades recovering what nearly disappeared from the island.

The Mediterranean climate gives long growing seasons and reliable sunshine, but the eastern interior can push grapes toward early ripeness. Farming choices matter here. Biodynamic cultivation, which Gelabert practises with lunar cycle scheduling for planting and harvest, slows the rhythm of the vineyard and keeps the fruit at a different register than conventional production under the same sun.

Soil And Site

The estate farms 7 hectares near Manacor in the island's interior east. The source set does not specify soil composition in detail, so the site's character is better understood through what grows here: both international varieties that arrived in the 1990s and indigenous Mallorcan grapes that predate the island's modern wine industry by centuries. Seven hectares is a small holding to carry 13 varieties, which means individual parcels are compact and farming decisions are made at close range.

Story

Gelabert started with nothing wine-specific in his family background. He planted in 1996, built in 1997, and registered under D.O. Pla i Llevant from the start. Biodynamic farming was not a later conversion; it was the original method.

The estate's longest thread is the recovery of Giró Ros, an indigenous white Mallorcan variety that had dwindled to a handful of surviving plants. Gelabert located those plants, propagated them, and planted 1.5 hectares. The wine produced from them is called Torre des Canonge. Without that intervention, the variety might have left Mallorca's vineyards entirely. The 1.5 hectares of Giró Ros now sit alongside Chardonnay, Riesling, Viognier, and Macabeo in the white range, and alongside Callet and the international reds in the estate's broader planting.

The international varieties were not a compromise. At the time Gelabert planted, Mallorca had little wine infrastructure and even less reputation. Bringing in Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah alongside recovered indigenous vines gave the estate commercial range while the longer indigenous project developed.

Vineyards And Cellar

Seven hectares, biodynamically farmed from the estate's first season, following lunar cycles for planting and harvest timing. The 13 varieties spread across white and red grapes, indigenous and international, with Giró Ros occupying a dedicated 1.5 hectares of the white plantings.

Oak aging is confirmed for Son Fangos Negre: Callet and Merlot spend 12 months in both French and American oak casks before release. French oak tends to impart finer grain and red-fruit integration; American oak adds a slightly broader, vanilla-edged character. The combination gives Son Fangos Negre its layered mid-palate rather than a single oak signature.

Wines

The white range runs across five bottles, covering Chardonnay, Riesling, Viognier, Macabeo, and Giró Ros. Torre des Canonge, made from the recovered Giró Ros, is the most singular bottle in the white range: an indigenous variety with almost no reference point elsewhere on the island.

The reds form a clear arc from entry to top. Son Fangos Negre opens the range with Callet, Mallorca's most planted indigenous red grape, blended with Merlot and aged 12 months in French and American oak. The colour is garnet with a cherry tinge, clear and bright. Ses Hereves moves into international territory: equal thirds Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, a Bordeaux-influenced blend that sits at the mid-range of the estate. At the top, Illenc appears in a fine, medium-deep garnet with violet tinges, its nose moving through wet stone, oak, undergrowth, and truffle, its tannins fresh and soft with what the estate calls a gastronomic finish, meaning it earns its place at a table rather than standing apart from food.

The rosé completes the count: one wine, position and variety not specified in the source set.

In The Glass

Son Fangos Negre opens with the character of Callet, an indigenous variety that tends toward bright red fruit rather than dark weight, and the cherry tinge in the colour carries through to the nose. Twelve months in mixed French and American oak adds warmth to the mid-palate without obscuring the fruit. The finish is approachable rather than demanding.

Illenc operates at a different register. The nose is intense: wet stone from the oak, then undergrowth and truffle beneath the toasted surface. In the mouth it moves toward balance over power, with fresh, soft tannins and a finish that invites food rather than closing on its own. The violet tinge in the colour appears in the aromatic lift on the nose. Ses Hereves, the equal-thirds Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah blend, sits between these two in ambition.

Across the range, the biodynamic farming and lunar cycle harvest timing point toward freshness over extraction, and the reds reflect that: they are not built for sheer concentration.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Son Fangos Negre. It is made from Callet, Mallorca's indigenous red grape, blended with Merlot and aged 12 months in French and American oak before release. The colour is garnet with a cherry tinge. The wine spends 12 months in French and American oak casks. The Callet gives it a red-fruit brightness that the Merlot rounds out in the mid-palate. It sits at the accessible end of the Gelabert range, is widely listed, and carries both the estate's indigenous variety commitment and its cellar method in a single bottle that does not require any prior knowledge of Mallorcan wine to enjoy.

Anecdote

When Toni Gelabert built his bodega in 1997, the year after he planted his first vines, he brought Feng Shui architects from Palma across the island to Manacor to orient the building. The bodega was not set square to the surrounding vineyard grid. Instead it was positioned at an angle, placed where the architects calculated light and energy would move most freely through the working spaces. Gelabert had no family wine tradition behind him and no local model to follow: the island barely had a wine industry at the time. He was making the whole thing up as he went, which may be why the Feng Shui seemed as reasonable as anything else. The building still stands at that angle, and the estate still makes wine inside it.

Final Word

Vins Toni Gelabert is a first-generation Mallorcan estate that began with no family template, an angled bodega, and a conviction that the island could grow serious wine. Nearly three decades later, the 7-hectare estate carries both recovered indigenous varieties and international grapes under D.O. Pla i Llevant, farming biodynamically and producing 30,000 bottles across 13 varieties. Son Fangos Negre gives you the indigenous Callet alongside the cellar method. Illenc shows where the ambition ends up.

Sources

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