New Vino de Mallorca to be launched

Joan Collins A new wine with the brandname Vino de Mallorca could be launched next season with between 600'000 and 1 million bottles. These will be distributed mainly to Germany, Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary and, to a lesser extent, to the Spanish mainland and the United Kingdom, according to the President of the Association of Small Wine Producers, Antoni Darder. He said that this is not a new Denominacion de Origen (D.O.) wine but a “wine of the land” and that, in fact, the brand will be comparable with those already in existence. He added that this wine will only be created after a technical study has been done to establish the technical parameters which must be applied. These have not yet been clarified with the Balearic Government. Darder estimates that “at first” all the wine cellars on the island could be interested in adopting the new brand, mainly the smaller ones, in spite of the fact that they are committed to other brands and area and regional Denominacion de Origen wines. Darder said he considered it “positive” that the Balearic Government had paid attention to his proposal, as it showed “predisposition and commitment” and said that now it is necessary “to combine forces” to start this initiative as soon as possible, hopefully by next year. Antoni Darder stressed that the Vino de Mallorca brand will be “easier” to promote due to the fact that the name of the island is very well known internationally after a century of tourist promotion. However, he added that all necessary promotional measures for its launch would be undertaken. Continuing on this theme, he praised the promotion which the Balearic Government will be undertaking in London at the beginning of September, during which they will be promoting the products of the islands, among them the emergent wines. He added that he hoped that the public institutions would keep up this type of effort in the future. It is worth remembering that, in a study done by the consultancy Acnielsen and published in December by the Commission of Wine Culture in the Balearics, the creation of the Vino de Mallorca brand was “advised against”. Instead, the study recommended that the quality of the existing wines should be improved, their prices controlled and their promotion outside of the country should be extended. The “wine of the land” category is lower than that of Denominación de Origen, such as Binissalem or Pla i Llevant which is only granted after five years of testing.