Local producer MESQUIDA MORA

Bàrbara Mesquida Mora loves words almost as much as she loves growing grapes. She is both philologist and oenologist, by training and by vocation. So it’s no surprise that each the names she chose for the seven wines produced by her bodega has a story to tell. The first is Acrollam, which is simply Mallorca backwards –her way of championing the idiosyncrasy of the island’s inland area, of the villages located away from the coast, such as Porreres, where she was born, where she lives and where she grows her vines. “I was born in a paradise; I’m very fortunate.”

In 2012, Bàrbara embarked on her own wine-making project, Mesquida Mora, using her two surnames as a declaration of her principles, fully aware that she is the way she is because of what she has gone through in life. Because nothing happens by accident – we are a coincidence of events in time. This explains the name of Sincronía – white, rosé and red – for her range of young wines, made using indigenous varieties, such as Prensal, and foreign grapes, such as Chardonnay, a variety that her grandfather planted on the island for the very first time more than 40 years ago, and which is still going strong.

We don’t know if Bárbara sees herself reflected in the woman on the label of the Acrollam white, about to dive fearlessly into the wavy sea, but we rather suspect that she does. This “fermented wine juice”, as the oenologist herself describes it, is made purely with native Prensal and Giró varieties, with no added sulphates.

In the 20 hectares of Mesquida Mora vineyards, biodynamic farming guidelines are followed, to ensure the vines don’t lose their biological connection to their environment. No herbicides, pesticides or artificial chemical fertilisers are used – vegetation grows freely among the vines, which are looked after with medicinal plants, and the moon governs the days and nights when work is carried out.

Bàrbara invites us to see the world from a different perspective, such as up in a balloon on the label of the Acrollam rosé, made using the foreign varieties, Cabernet and Merlot, from the oldest vines in Mallorca.

“There’s nothing better than being able to bring people together right where our wines are made – being able to open up our house to them,” she explains, applauding the essence of direct selling, as this gives her the opportunity to explain, first-hand, what lies behind each label.

The young winemaker needed a Sòtil (a ceiling) and a Trispol (a floor) for shelter and to give her the strength to set out on her own venture. Today, despite the daily challenges that the wine grower faces, she always finds reasons to keep going. “Wine makes me laugh, cry and feel emotion. It’s a sign that we’re alive.”