Wine Days: Mallorca's wine week begins today in the courtyard of Sant Francesc

Wine Days: Mallorca's wine week begins today in the courtyard of Sant Francesc

From tapas to showcooking — regional winemakers present themselves

When the church bell in Palma heralds the evening and the lanterns in the old town glow warmly, the courtyard of the Sant Francesc monastery fills again with people, voices and the soft clinking of wine glasses. Today at 6:30 PM the opening of the Wine Days starts here, a two-week program of wine events on the island that runs until May 31.

The opening event lasts until about 10:30 PM and combines tastings with small dishes and live music, similar to the winery concerts at Macià Batle.

For visitors that means: stroll between stalls, taste, ask — and soak up the special atmosphere of a Mallorcan spring evening. On the cobbled streets around the square you can hear fado-like guitar sounds and the voices of people still catching the last rays of sun.

The Wine Days are more than a feast for the palate. In the coming days guided visits to bodegas, themed tasting sessions and showcooking are part of the program. Winemakers from different regions of Mallorca present their bottles: white wines, robust reds, fresh rosés. Anyone looking for a direct line to the producer will have the chance to ask about grape varieties, soil and wine aging — often personally and without intermediaries.

For the island such events are important: they bring visitors to smaller cellars, spread interest across the regions and give local producers visibility, as do autumn festivals featuring olive oil, honey and wine. Neighbours from Palma also use the Wine Days to try new things in a familiar environment. In cafés on the Passeig del Born you can see groups after the event continuing conversations over a final glass.

Practical tips for the visit: comfortable shoes are an advantage — the courtyard and the adjacent alleys are paved. Those who want to participate in bodega visits should check in advance whether registration is necessary; some tours have limited places. And: if you travel by car, plan a parking or taxi option, because several tastings in a row make sober driving difficult.

For anyone seeking deeper insight, a trip to the Binissalem wine region is worthwhile — see the Binissalem Vermar wine festival weekend. There — away from the city — lie many of the traditional bodegas that open their doors during the Wine Days. Such visits combine landscape, craft and taste: you stand among vines, smell the earth and understand why some bottles are so typical for this island.

A small, personal impression: on an evening like this the scent of grilled vegetables and toasted bread mixes with herbs from nearby gardens. Children run around, older couples lean against the stone walls, and snippets of conversation appear everywhere about recommendations — which wine pairs with sobrasada, which with grilled fish. That makes the Wine Days a lively, unpretentious experience.

If you need inspiration: try a glass of local white wine with a seafood tapa during the walk — the freshness often pairs surprisingly well with the mineral notes of many Mallorcan white wines. And if a showcooking is on the program, it's the perfect chance to steal preparation ideas straight from the chef.

The Wine Days are an offering for locals and visitors alike: a calendar full of small encounters with Mallorcan winemaking. So: plan, taste, chat — and perhaps take a bottle home as a memento of a mild evening in the courtyard of Sant Francesc.