Ribas, Mallorca's most famous historic winery, can boast that it has been producing wine continuously since 1711, when Pedro Ribas de Cabrera built his winery in Consell.
His son later built an oil mill (now converted into an ageing cellar) and the family house. A wine made from Gargollassa won a medal for "perfection" at the Madrid Wine Exhibition in 1877. Historical records include notes on the production of grafts to combat phylloxera, a few years before the plague reached the island in 1891.
For most of the 20th century, the business focused on bulk wine, which was sold both from the winery and from a small shop in Palma's old quarter. The Ribases relied on the Colom family for the management and farming of the vineyard and the relationship has been maintained to this day by Toni Colom, the third generation. Bottling began in the 1980s by sisters Juana and María Antonia Ribas, with the help of winemaker Francisco Servera. Since 2004, Araceli and Javier Servera, the children of María Antonia Ribas and the tenth generation of a long line of wine producers, are in charge of winemaking.
Along with the new facilities designed by architect Rafael Moneo, elements from different periods have been preserved. Among them are the "bota congrenyada" (ringed boot), made of wild olive and holm oak wood; the old stone presses that will be restored in the future, and the concrete vats that are still used for fermenting Manto Negro, their flagship variety. Moneo recovered the old threshing floor, which was used as a car park, to serve as a central, spacious area that articulates the rest of the buildings.
The family grows almost 50 hectares of vines in Can Ribas, a strip of sandy loam soil with pebbles and gravel. This is a sedimentary basin in the central depression of Mallorca, between the Sierra de Tramontana and the Central mountain ranges. There are limestone rocks and marls with abundant calcium carbonate. The soils are shallow to medium deep, with good drainage but low retention capacity. Local varieties dominate, especially Manto Negro, which has undergone careful clonal selection, Gargollassa (Ribas recovered this ancient grape in Mallorca) and the white varieties Prensal and Giró Ros. The estate also produces Syrah and Viognier.
Ribas produces around 220,000 bottles, 50% of which are reds and the rest whites and rosés, which are very popular on the island. The youngest vines are used for the Ribas range, priced between €13 and €16. There is a white made from Prensal with 10% Giró Ros, a rosé from Manto Negro and a red cuvée with around 55% Manto Negro, Syrah and smaller amounts of Syrah, Callet and Merlot.
The Sió range (the name is a tribute to Araceli and Javier's grandmother) is based on old vines. There is an opulent white made from Prensal, some Giró Ros and about 30% barrel-aged Viognier, an original Gargollassa rosé produced in very small quantities, and a balanced red cuvée that blends Manto Negro (60%), Syrah and a small percentage of Gargollassa. Ribas de Cabrera is made only in the best vintages. With greater concentration, depth and ageing potential, it aims to capture the expression of the oldest Manto Negro on the estate and includes some Syrah in the blend.
The only single-varietal Manto Negro red is Desconfío de la gente que no bebe (I distrust people who don't drink). With a provocative label, it offers a subtler, more refined version of the variety, with a smooth texture. All the wines are organic.
The winery offers guided tours by appointment and has a wine bar for which no reservations are required.
