Jaume Prats is Mallorquin, and after time learning about wine and winemaking in Catalunya returned to his native Mallorca to work with and recuperate an old vineyard plot of indigenous vines in the island’s interior. The plot of mixed varieties, planted on the island’s red iron-rich clay soils (known as Call Vermell) had been abandoned for more than five years. Plots like this are rare: much of the vineyard land in Mallorca was replanted to international varieties in the 1990s, so old vines of Mantonegro and other local varieties are treasures. Inspired by his work with Alella’s Oriol Artigas, he focuses on the direct expression of this singular place, fermenting the plot’s different varieties together, working without oak or sulfur, and producing only about 3,000 bottles of a single wine: Jaumet.
The Wines
Jaumet Naranja: 60% Mantonegro, 20% Callet & Fogoneu, and 20% Premsal, Malvasia & Moscatel from a single co-planted vineyard of 50–60-year-old vines planted on red iron-rich calcareous clay soils (locally called “Call Vermell”). The vineyard had been abandoned; Jaume is rehabilitating it. After harvest the grapes macerated with skins and stems for 8 days and was then pressed with a pneumatic press to finish fermentation in stainless steel tanks. It rested in tank for 6 months before bottling without fining, filtering, or sulfur addition.