Vins Toni Gelabert: Negre de sa Colònia, 2013

Toni Gelabert is happy to remain in quiet anonymity and modest silence, which he will only break when he feels like it.  "I make wines to last. They will speak for me and some already do", he says.  This man of deep convictions has his feet planted firmly in the Son Fangos soil (D.O. Pla i Llevant, Manacor) and his eyes turned to the sky (he works with lunar cycles).

He respects the land and knows it like the back of his hand.  His wines are certified organic but he goes far beyond this, keeping a constant eye on his land. To put it another way: everything that can be done, will be done, to obtain the best possible grapes and healthy, balanced vineyards.

A lover of fine Burgundies, his whites (made from Giró, Chardonnay, Prensal, Macabeo or Muscat) show an East Mallorcan and Hyperborean character.  He lives and makes wines in a newly-built winery laid out according to Feng-Shui principles: When you lay hands on its walls and lay sight on its interior, you instantly know you are going to like the wines and the people who make them.

One of his special reds is a 100% Cellet. This fruit is different from other Callets on the island. His grows in a single vineyard on the Arta peninsula, below Cap Ferrutx, facing northwest, with the sea and wind as constant companions. Sedimentary lime and magnesium rocks feed the grapes.

The unfiltered and unstabilized wine spends 12 months in French oak and then some months bottle-ageing in the cellars. The years only serve to enhance a wine that is already very attractive - it speaks of soil and roots, garrigue scrubland and wet stone, sea, shade and fresh breezes. It brings to mind ripe blackberries, burnished mahogany, capers and carob. Its tannins, marked by the terroir and the wood ageing, are in gentle harmony. This is a lovely jet-black, myrtle wine with an orange blossom and orange peel finish - a unique experience.