I have decided to give up on alcohol, well, almost. There will be no more spirits from now on, no more Cava, no more cocktails, no spritzers, no highballs, no beer, no cider. There will be one exception though, red wine. One cannot live in Mallorca and offer a daily photo blog and not be involved with wine, wine making, wine festivals or wine tasting. So it is going to be Vino Tinto in, everything else out, from now on.

That makes me sound a serious alcoholic when I don’t think I am (that’s what alcoholics tend to say, don’t they). I think I may have ten units during a one month period, when that may be the intake of many people in a night out or two.

I make mention of this because yesterday, I participated in an activity that the Els Amics dels Closos put on in and around Felanitx, a six weeks long Cicle del Vi a Felanitx (Felanitx wine series). It started off three weeks go with a round-table colloquium on the recent changes in vinicultural production, here in Mallorca. Then, last week we could visit the Bodega of Ànima Negra to test their offerings. Yesterday, a group of some 35 interested folks were invited to visit the Celler of 4 Kilos where we heard Francesc Grimalt talk about the most important component of wine making, the soil. We also tasted two different red wines in five different states of evolution (see photo above), albeit not their latest creation, Gallinas & Focas.

Next week, we will visit the Bodega of Vi d’Auba and a week later, that of Armero i Adrover. The wine tasting Bodega visits are open to the public but places are limited. You can put your name down in person at Paperería Ramon Llull in Felanitx; attendance fee is a modest 2 €.

The wine series will conclude in June with a colloquium on the different processes involved in the making and cultivation of wine. I think that one will be offered free of charge. You can check for details on the Amics blog should you want to do so. Salut.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 5th, 2012. The time was 11:19:59.