Europeans flock to Mallorca’s famously pristine coastal waters during the summer months, but the island’s mountainous interior is much cooler, and ideal for producing red wine. Andreu Suñer is an organic grape farmer who works a small plot of land in the village of Sencelles at 1,000ft in the island’s center. His graying beard and permanent tan are typical of someone who insists on doing everything himself. For the last fifteen years Andreu has quietly gone about his business, bottling red wine from the area’s principal red varieties, Manto Negro and Callet. Fruit is hand harvested, de-stemmed, fermented in steel tanks, and then aged in very old barrels for 6 months before bottling without filtration. The result is a powerful and impactful red that still somehow remains juicy, thirst quenching, and light on its feet. For me, it’s the quintessential wine for outdoor grilling.

The 2012 Andreu Suñer “Montenegro” is rich and opaque crimson in the glass. Aromas of cassis, poached figs, smoked meat, citrus peel and wild herbs overflow from the glass. This masculine and intense aromatic profile stands in pleasant contrast to the wine’s notably soft and juicy impression on the palate. Altogether, these qualities create a wine that has proved an ideal companion to every charred cut of meat I’ve thrown at it this summer. It’s simply delicious. I recommend decanting the wine for 30 minutes before serving in a large bordeaux stem at 60 degrees. Finally, I’ll share that most of Andreu’s wine is consumed locally by tourists each year, but a small amount - less than 150 cases - makes it into the US.  We recently purchased all that remained in the importer’s warehouse and are excited to share it with you today.