Binissalem is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) (''Denominació d'Origen Protegida'' in Catalan) for wines located around the town of

Binissalem Binissalem () is a small municipality in the district of Raiguer on Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipe ...

in the centre of the island of

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, (

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

History

Grape growing and wine production was introduced to the island by the

ancient Romans The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens (; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...

in the year 121 BC when

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius ( – 63 BC) was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. His father Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, Metellus Numidicus was banished from Rome through the machinations of Gaius Marius. He, because ...

took possession of the island for Rome.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

mentioned the wines of Majorca in his writings in the 1st century AD. During the centuries of Moorish dominion, grape growing and wine production did not disappear despite the prohibitions of the Koran, as when king

Jaume I James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 127 ...

conquered the island in 1230, he was offered top quality wine as a peace offering. Before the arrival of the

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

plague at the end of the 19th century there were about 27,000 ha under vines in Majorca and exports were 300,000 hl of wine per year. After the devastation of the virus however, most of the vineyards were replaced by almond trees. In the late 20th century there was a revival of the wine industry due to the demand for quality wine by tourists. It acquired its DO status in 1991, the first of the two Majorcan DOPs to do so, the other being Plà i Llevant.

Geography

The area covered by the DOP in the centre of the island, northeast of the town of Palma and is a high plateaux of rolling hills at altitudes of between 125 m and 300 m above sea level. To the north is the Sierra de Alfabia range which protects the vineyards from the cold and wet sea winds that blow during the winter.

Soils

The soils are loose and poor in nutrients, with lime over clay and occasional layers of hard lime crusts, which contributes to water retention.

Climate

The climate is maritime Mediterranean, with warm hot summers and short mild winters. Excessive heat in the summer is the main problem that the grape growers have to cope with, though the altitude helps to keep down temperatures during the night. There are occasional risks of strong winds, frosts and hailstones. Rainfall is mainly in the autumn in the form of violent storms.

Authorised Grape Varieties

The authorised grape varieties are: * Red: Manto Negro, Callet,

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del País in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in it ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, Monastrell,

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, Gorgollassa, and

Giró Ros Giro or GIRO may refer to: Banking and investments * Giro (banking), a direct payment from one bank account to another instigated by the payer * Girobank, a state owned and later privatised financial institution in the UK * GiroBank, a Danish ba ...

* White: Prensal Blanc,

Macabeo Macabeo, also called Viura or Macabeu (, ), is a white variety of wine grape. It is widely grown in the Rioja region of northeastern Spain, the Cava producing areas south of Barcelona, and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. Spanis ...

Parellada Parellada () is a Spanish white grape variety of Catalan origin specially grown in Catalonia, Spain. With Macabeu and Xarel·lo, it is one of the three traditional varieties used to make the sparkling wine Cava, which is primarily produced in ...

, Moscatel de Alejandría, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

References

External links

D.O.P. Binissalem official website
Wine regions of Spain Appellations Wine classification Culture of Mallorca Balearic cuisine {{coord, 39.6844, N, 2.8468, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:ES, display=title