Winter, late December in Mallorca – it had rained torrentially for five days straight, and yet as we visited the small Taujana winery in Santa Eugenia, it was as clear and sunny as a warm spring day. Mallorca Wine Trail luck! We had been eyeing the lovely little bodega for a long time, and were happy now when most wineries were closed for tastings, that Taujana was open and welcomed us!
Vinya Taujana guards the entrance of the small town of Santa Eugenia, and when you pull up it feels like arriving at a friend’s home. The typical Mallorquin stone house, surrounded by farmlands stretching to the Sierra Tramuntana mountains, surprisingly conceals the bodega’s full capacity.
We walked into the tasting and display area of the winery, and it felt both like a charming home sitting room and a local café – immediately we were greeted warmly by Maria behind the counter. We took a moment to take in the small bulk wine vats where you can fill your own bottles, or buy theirs, and saw that there are three different wines for sale: The standard white, rosé, and red. We were impressed at how reasonably priced these wines are, and could not wait to try them!
To taste or tour? That is the question! Speaking to us in Spanish, Maria asked if we would like to taste, and our response was yes, but could we get a tour of the winery first? She looked around, and told us “It is just me here – but sure – why not?!” Locking the large wooden door to the outside, she led us out the only other door in the room – and then we were astonished! Behind that modest door lay the full wine making process!
First Maria led us downstairs into the stainless-steel tank room, telling us that Taujana is a family winery. It was opened by her husband and brother-in-law, the Crespí brothers, who built the Taujana winery and made their first commercial wine in 2001 – building on a family tradition of growing grapes and making wine in Santa Eugenia, originally for personal consumption, friends and family. This is their labor of love, as both brothers have day jobs as Palma policemen! Taujana is all in the family, as the brothers make the wine, and their wives work the store for tastings and sales. Maria told us that at harvest time, the whole extended family comes and picks, and then it’s back to just the four of them.
When we laid eyes on all the steel tanks that can hold a maximum of 115,000 liters, it was incredible to fathom that this is a family business that upholds the winemaking artisanal processes!
Maria assured us that everything at Taujana is done in the traditional way, grapes are hand-picked, the labelling and bottling is done by them, not automated. They carefully control fermentation, and rest their red wine in select oak barrels.
Maria showed us the cozy barrel room with 55 American and French oak barrels holding 250 liters each. The majority that day held their red Crianza wine, which would go to bottle soon with corks brought in from the mainland.
At the time of our visit, Taujana has around 6.5 hectares of its own vineyards, and rents another 6 hectares from others. Only two hectares are in Santa Eugenia, and the others are outside Santa Maria and Consell. At the time of our tour, their oldest vines were around 30 years old and their youngest about 5. The vines they have include the native Manto Negro, Callet, and Moll, and the non-natives are Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. They are all tended with utmost care using natural fertilizers and non-aggressive care and harvest methods.
Maria finished our tour informing us that Vinya Taujana produces approximately 100,000 bottles a year, virtually all of which are consumed on the island, enjoyed in local establishments, and sold in bulk in the personal-bottle or special occasion trade. We were in awe of the dedication these two brothers and family have!
Back upstairs and in the tasting room again, Maria unlocked the front door and we started our tasting. We were wondering, since the family is Crespí, where did the name Taujana come from? Maria told us that the people from Santa Eugenia are called Taujanas, like the people of Palma are Palmesanos, and those from Sóller are Sóllerics – and so this sole bodega in Santa Eugenia is a Taujana too!
As we sipped our first glass of white, Maria told us that the family chose to make the Taujana wines under the winery regulation of the DO Binissalem. Mallorca Wine Tasting learning moment! This is one of the most controlled regulating bodies on the island. DO is Denominacion de Origin (Denomination of Origin, where the grapes are grown and what grapes can be used). Currently, there are only 12 wineries on the island that are registered with this DO! The idea behind a DO is that it gives a quality ensured stamp of approval for the local geographic area, like Champaign and Cognac in France.
Officially certified since 1991, the DO Binissalem only allows grapes grown in five townships: Santa Maria del Camí, Consell, Binissalem, Santa Eugènia and Sencelles, and only allow specific approved grapes:
Red Grapes:
Local Grapes: Manto Negro, Callet, Monastrell and Gorgollassa
Non-local grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Merlot and Syrah
White Grapes:
Local Grapes: Moll or Prensal Blanc, Parellada, Macabeo, Moscatel from Alejandría, Moscatel de grano menudo and Giró Ros
Non-local grapes: Chardonnay
The most common grapes associated with this DO are Manto Negro, Moll or Prensal Blanc and the Moscatel varieties. The others, specifically the non-local grapes, are used to blend for their specific strengths, and the DO Binissalem specifies exact percent amounts of which local grape must be used in each wine. There are also many DO Binissalem regulations regarding cultivation, and for the wine making process as well.
We tasted the following hand-harvested wines at Taujana – each fully approved and regulated from growing to bottling under DO Binissalem’s quality control:
White:
Blanc de Blancs, from Premsal Blanc or Moll with Chardonnay.
Rose:
Rosat from 100% Manto Negro, 24hr maceration and then bottled
Red Wine:
Crianza Torrent Fals from older vines – 35 years or older – Manto Negro, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. In barrel between 6-12 months, and then 1 year in bottle, best drank within 10 years of bottling.
As we enjoyed our tasting, we noticed a large bottle with a Mallorquin ‘glosse’ on the label. A glosse is a short poem, made with a generalized rhythm. They are normally sung when a group of friends or family get together, and after the food is finished the singing of glosses begins. They are like stories, and sometimes tell gossip or gist about different people in the town, and always inspire the group to smile and join in. Glosses are normally accompanied by playing the ximbomba, a traditional Mallorquin musical instrument made of leather pulled over a clay cylinder, with a wet cane passed through the center to create a vibrational sound. These days, glosses are most commonly sung around the fires of Sant Antoni and San Sebastian in January.
At Taujana, the glosses are only on special bottles. One brother likes poetry and writing glosses, and you can order a quantity of these glosse bottles made for a special event like a wedding or anniversary with a personalized glosse on it! On the big bottle in front of us, we read that they write glosses on their wine bottles for a unique local touch, but also for their own amusement. It adds to the pleasure of getting wine from Taujana!
The double magnum glosse:
Aqui venem vi glosat
I glosam amb senzillesa
Tan glosam per una empresa
Com per un interessat.
El vi personalitzat
I fet pel mateix pagès
Creis-me a vegades és
Objecte per obsequiar
Més si en pot participar
Content va qui ha fet s’espès.
– Es pagès
~ Our translation ~
Here we sell ‘glossed’ wine
And we gloss with ease
Some glossing is for businesses
As for an interested party.
The wine is both personalized
and made by the same farmer [vintner]
Believe me sometimes it’s
Something to gift
More if you can participate,
Happy is he who has done it
– The farmer [vintner]
At the end, with all this new knowledge in mind, we are even more impressed with the final product! We also love that the wines and prices at Taujana are for table wines – at the time of our tasting, all bottles were well under ten euros each which is wonderful! You may not find a flash bottle to impress your friends at cocktail time, but when you serve these wines at a family meal in your home, the wine drinkers will go home happy! From the Taujana ‘home’ to yours 😊
