Meet the Winemaker: Bàrbara Mesquida Mora

7th June 2018
Interviews
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The Mesquida Mora Winery in Mallorca was established by Bàrbara Mesquida Mora in 2012 close to the town of Porreres. After converting her vineyards to biodynamic cultivation six years ago, a new adventure began with the production of a series of wines that express the potential of a vine that is healthier, more alive and more authentic.

Bàrbara says: “I would like to think that through my wine people can taste a little piece of Mallorca”.

Mallorca Reflections caught up with Bàrbara at her winery to ask some key questions and find out more, including:

– Where did it all start?

– The names of your wines what do they mean?

– In the world of wine, who has influenced you and who do you most admire and why?

Mesquida Mora Grapes

Bàrbara Mesquida Mora: The Interview

Where did it all start?

It started a long time ago. My great grand father created his own winery in 1945 which was passed down through the generations. I managed the family winery for eight years, from 2004 up to 2012, but unfortunately it was closed. I decided to start my own project as soon as possible and that became “MESQUIDA MORA”. I have grown up amongst vineyards and barrels, I really should have wine instead of blood in my veins! Wine is my life.

Mesquida Collage

You are a strong advocate of biodynamic agriculture. Why did you choose the biodynamic route?

In 2004 when I was in charge of the family winery the vineyards were grown in a conventional way, using herbicides, pesticides… for me it was not the right way. With my brother we start discussing about going the bio route, but we discoverd a man called Rudolf Steiner and his antroposophy. We start reading, learning and in 2007 we decided to change the way of growing in our fields. We are DEMETER certified and since then we have not returned to chemical treatments.

The viticultural jigsaw of our winery is made up of seven plots which are between 5 and 53 years old. Certified by the Balearic Ecological Agriculture Council and Demeter, they grow on calcareous, clayey and red gravel soils; together they draw a varietal mosaic that host the first examples of foreign varieties planted in Mallorca, which live alongside the island’s autochthonous varieties.

With the aim of bequeathing rich, fertile soils to the future generations, the management of our vineyards is based on a dialogue with nature: we sow our own vegetable covers, apply biodynamic compost and preparations as well as use infusions of medicinal plants. All of these techniques help us to achieve grapes of the highest quality, an expression of the triangle sun-climate-variety.

To stimulate the health of our vines, we perform all the tasks by hand, following the most propitious movements of the stars.

Mesquida vines

The names of your wines what do they mean?

SINCRONIA

Synchrony is the magic of life. What we sometimes experience as a negative event becomes an opportunity, something that occurs at the same time as something else. The young wines of Mesquida Mora are born in synchrony with their siblings ACROLLAM, TRISPOL and SÒTIL.

The labels of SINCRONIA wines are composed of small fragments of coloured paper, like life itself, representing the vines where they were born, composing a picture that evokes the Mediterranean essence of our island, Mallorca.

If SINCRONIA BLANC is illustrated with a boat, it is because it symbolises the will and ambition to cross new seas and oceans, while SINCRONIA NEGRE is represented by a lighthouse to remind us always of our home port. SINCRONIA ROSAT bears a starfish, an echinoderm that has always amazed with its shape and colours; it is often associated with rebirth due to its facility for regenerating itself.

ACROLLAM

“Acrollam” is “Mallorca” in reverse, because we like to do our work in our own way, often “the other way round” from what is customary, escaping from the established canons.
The ACROLLAM BLANC label shows a woman who is searching for her identity, femininity prepared to plunge into the sea, prepared to live new adventures and to lead changes without relinquishing her so personal way of being. Without fear of the waves or the storm. A passion for life, for feeling caressed by the salt texture of our sea.

In contrast, the ACROLLAM ROSAT label shows a hot-air balloon. Weighing anchor and soaring up into the blue to see the Earth from up high and to appreciate its beauty. The desire to live new adventures and face new challenges in life, with a balloon carrying two people who are setting out on a journey of freedom.

Both labels carry a mandala formed by concentric figures that suggest the search for perfection in making the different wines, while the perimeter of the circle evokes the return to the cycles of nature, like the vine itself.

TRISPOL and SÒTIL

A TRISPOL is a floor, one of the basic elements for undertaking a new life project. TRISPOL is body, structure, our own way of paying tribute to our mother earth who gives us life … and wine. The label shows the tiles we walked on throughout our childhood in the house of our maternal grandparents, Can Vedera in Porreres.

A SÒTIL is the surface that separates two floors of a building, and the space over which the roof tiles are laid to finish off a house. SÒTIL is also sky, silhouette, lightness, sensibility … one’s own way of referring to the cosmos. The label shows the blue sky of our Mediterranean, with a few clouds that try to hide the sun, because nothing ever has one single colour. The central moulding recalls the mandala of ACROLLAM.

Mesquida Mora 7 Wines

Do you have a favourite wine or vintage that you have made?

That’s difficult to answer… every vintage is special for a particular reason. 2012 was the first vintage at my new winery… I’ll never forget it.

In the world of wine, who has influenced you and who do you most admire and why?

There are so many people, but I must mention with Francesc Grimalt from the 4 Kilos winery. He is more than a “brother” to me… a good friend, and somebody from whom I have learnt as a grower, winemaker and person.

Mesquida vines