Carefully maturing to reach you in perfect shape
In order for our wines to reach you and the other family members in optimal shape, we let them carefully mature first.
A wine gains harmony and complexity when left to age in either vat, barrel or bottle. This is due to chemical reactions between the acidity, tannins, alcohol and polyphenols in the wine. Due to alteration in some complex protein chains a wine over time becomes rounder, softer and more harmonious.
There is however a big difference between how long each different wine needs or benefits from maturing due to it's different composition and style.
White and rosé wines
Our fresh and fruit-driven whites and rosé wines are only left to rest in the steel vats for around 4 months before we bottle them and then ship them after another month or so in bottle. This means they usually reach you in springtime about 6 months after harvest. We prefer this only-steel vat and rather short maturation period to let the fruit and freshness of the wines express itself at maximum and without "make-up" of any kind.
Red wines
When it comes to our red wines most of them are pumped carefully into oak barrels after they have finished malolactic fermentation. So far we have left most of our Grenache and Callet in the steelvats as they still do not have enough power to match nicely with oak. But all our other red varieties spend around 9-10 months in oak. From December a couple of months after harvest to October the following year when we finalise the blends and bottle the wines. The maturing in oak helps the wine to further develop as the oak both contributes with some tannin, aroma compounds, but also very importantly let's the wine oxygenate lightly as the wood is not inert as a steel vat and thus let's the wine "breathe" a bit. Just like when you decant a wine, or swirl it in your wine glass, the slow oxygenation in the barrel helps bring out the aromas in the wines and makes them more complex over time. Another thing important for the reds is that the tannin from the oak helps bind the color pigments and make the color of the wine more stable for a long ageing.
Just after the reds have been bottled they suffer from what's called "bottling shock" which basically means that they shut down and doesn't smell or taste of much for some weeks! So sometimes we leave them in the steel cages below for a bit of time to mature in the bottles before shipping. This year we felt that it was important for you, our members, to get the red wines in time for the holiday season, plus, we agreed that the wines did not need that much bottle ageing before they were ready.
One note though, the transport from Mallorca to Denmark makes the "bottling shock" even worse, so we always recommend giving the freshly bottled reds a few weeks and then a LOT of air in glass/decanter when you open the first bottles.
