If ever a vintner’s commitment might waver it would have been last summer following three years of drought in Ibiza and Formentera and grapes ravaged by birds. Each winery reported losses of 30% and upwards making the preparation of the 2024 vintage extra tough.
Yet, due to the robust determination of the islands’ winemakers who have survived way harsher periods when their parents had to barter with crops just to feed their families, they’ve adapted and overcome. And, surprisingly, what’s been lost in quantity, has been gained in quality. Plus, there’s a bright outlook for 2025, thanks to an increasing amount of rain.
Views of the Terramoll winery
“Agriculture is passion and love for the countryside, it’s not just a business,” says Stella Gonzalez Tuells, the powerhouse behind Can Rich winery in San Antonio along with her husband Juan Riera and technical director Álvaro Pérez Navazo, another family member. “It’s romantic and it’s committed, it’s a way of life, a way to be.”
“In the 1950s, Ibizan farmers would cultivate what they could and use what they’d grown as currency for other goods, or to get money,” explains Stella. Carob was in high demand for animal feed and, ironically, that was the crop Stella’s father-in-law was initially looking to plant in the early 1990s when he acquired the 20-hectare farm of Can Rich, Sant Antoni and soon after Can Jaudis in Salinas where there are also 3,000 olive trees that produce olive oil.
After a complete transition to grapes and olives and investment in professional equipment in 1997, Can Rich’s first wines were released with Ibiza’s new PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) and ecological certification in 2000. Fast forward to 2025 and they produce predominantly Monastrell and Malvasia grapes (autochthonous to Ibiza) for their white, red and rosés and are experimenting with other native varieties.
Stella González Tuells, Juan Riera and Álvaro Pérez Navazo, from Can Rich (Photo: ©Juan Carlos Flórez); Jose Abalde with his team at Terramoll; Antonia Torres Boned, Toni Costa Tur and Toni Costa Torres at Can Maymó.
For Can Maymó in Sant Mateu, their professional operation began in 1995 with the first bottle being produced in 1999, although the family had been sharing their wine for many years in jugs with friends as sealed bottles just weren’t a thing. Imagine the challenge of getting it home without spilling or drinking every drop!
Antonia Torres Boned along with her husband Toni Costa Tur and son Toni Costa Torres are the team behind the winery today but it was actually in the 1960s when Antonia’s father planted vines of Monastrell that are still producing around 1.5 kg of grape per plant.
With seven hectares over four plots of land growing Monastell, Malvasia, Syrah and Merlot, what has worked exceptionally well for these viticulturists is a variety of the Malvasia grape that’s known on Ibiza as ‘grec’. And their unique wine is the ‘tinto tradicional’ made predominantly from Monastrell with distinctive notes of thyme, a homage to the native winemaking practices of Sant Mateu.
Views of the land at Can Rich
José Abalde oenologist and director of Terramoll winery in Formentera describes the distinguishing aromas and flavors of their wines as “very concentrated with a saline touch” thanks to “high levels of sunshine and constant winds that carry a lot of salt from the sea. The climatic conditions are extreme, marked by low rainfall,” he adds.
Established in 2000 by Javier Moll, Terramoll produced around 6,000 liters in the 2024 vintage – exclusively white and rosé wine. The lack of rain and a blight of wood pigeons and rabbits meant that, for the first time ever, no red wine was produced. But with what they have released this year: Savina, Astarté and Rosa de Mar, they are delighted.
