Local producer BODEGA GALLICANT

The story of Bodega Es Gallicant began a long time before its current owner, Nadal Galmés, decided to make his own wine. The estate used to be a farm, in Campos, and was owned by one of his ancestors: the uncle of his maternal grandmother, who had no direct descendants. Purely by chance, Nadal’s grandmother inherited the estate, after lots were drawn between no fewer than 14 cousins.

As a youngster, Nadal Galmés helped his parents work the land at Es Gallicant, where they owned a dairy farm, with 30 cows. Between the 1940s and the 1990s, Campos was a prominent centre of agriculture, where family farms came to be highly profitable, producing milk for cheese making and other dairy products.

It was precisely on the spot of the old dairy farm where Nadal Galmés built the winery after taking early retirement. As a hobby, he began planting vines in the estate’s red soil, known in Mallorca as call vermell, to which vines adapt very well. He took a chance on a characteristic grape from the island, the Giró Ros variety, which is in the process of being rediscovered (this is one of the few wineries that use it), along with the French varieties Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, among others.

As the years went by, Nadal’s hobby became a livelihood, and today Bodega Es Gallicant produces white, red, rosé and sparkling wines, which all fall under the Pla i Llevant de Mallorca Designation of Origin, such as the Call Vermell, aged in oak casks; the young wine Terra Rotja; the white Giró Ros, blond in colour and with lovely fruity notes; and the Rosella, with a pale pink colour reminiscent of poppies and strawberries.

A flock of sheep are in charge of keeping the land clean and fertilised, and during the weeks of harvest family and friends come together to help pick the grapes. Everything is done by hand so as not to damage the fruit.

Did you know that Gallicant means something along the lines of ’the cockerel that crows‘ or ’the crow of the rooster‘? One could say that the cockerel is still crowing on this Campos estate thanks to the passion of its owner. To purchase his wines or to pay a visit, don’t hesitate to give him a call.