Fideus de vermar: the harvest dish of Bodegas José L. Ferrer

A dish for the vermadors

The harvest is the busiest and most festive moment of the year in Binissalem. The Mantonegro vines are picked at a steady pace, and the whole town celebrates one of its oldest traditions. Picking under the sun called for a hearty meal, and fideus de vermar were the answer: a slow stew of mutton, known on the island as xot, with a concentrated sofrito, tomato and the gentle heat of pebre de cirereta, a small local chilli.

The traditional feast starts before the noodles arrive, with a board of Mallorcan cheese, grapes fresh from the vines, sobrasada or longaniza and botifarró. Only then comes the main course, brothy but clear, what the island calls fideus clars.

The house recipe

At the winery the dish is cooked as local tradition records it, in reference works such as 1500 Receptes de Cuina Mallorquina, by the house cook María Beltrán. The ingredients are few: a leg of mutton, five to seven pebres de cirereta, two or three tomàtigues de ramellet, a chopped onion, fine noodles at about 100 grams per person, black pepper and salt. Veal bones are optional and give the broth more body.

The method asks for patience rather than skill. The meat is boned, cut and seasoned, then boiled with its bones; the onion follows, then the tomatoes once the pot is boiling, and everything simmers until the mutton is very tender. The noodles and chillies go in at the end, stirred so nothing catches, and the pot comes off the heat as soon as the noodles are done.

Mantonegro in the glass

Tradition pairs the dish with red wines from the native grapes of the district, led by Mantonegro. The winery pours its own emblem with it, the José L. Ferrer Crianza Franja Roja, whose ripe fruit, spicy notes and silky, balanced tannin stand up to the mutton and the touch of chilli.

For groups the winery serves the whole menu at its premises in Binissalem: cheeses, cold meats and grapes, the fideus de vermar of María Beltrán and the Franja Roja, for parties from 12 up to 100 guests. Menus, visits and the wines themselves are presented by Bodegas José L. Ferrer.

A winery of firsts

The family house counts several island firsts: the first Mallorcan wine aged in oak barrels, the first bottled for sale, the first rosé of the island and the first winery of Mallorca to export. Today the fourth generation runs the business, and all the vineyards the company owns are farmed organically. For the wider wine map of the island, from the Binissalem appellation to the native grapes, read our guide to Mallorca's wine regions.