On
a recent visit to Mallorca, I came across Bodegas
Suau and I was very kindly shown around and told the fascinating history of
this company, its products and how Brandy is made. The attached museum is also very interesting.
The Suau winemakers are true Mallorca
ambassadors: ‘‘We want people to order a Suau brandy knowing that it is the
best in the world, and that it is made in Mallorca.’’ The company has been
approached by various national and international brands, but the family hopes
to maintain the product’s Mallorca nature and dreams of it one day making the
front page of the New York Times.
Brandy
is a drink associated with luxury; held cupped between the fingers and palm of
the drinker´s hand, it’s brought to its optimal drinking temperature by the
warmth of the human body. If the pleasure of drinking brandy stirs your senses,
you’ll be in your element at the Bodegas Suau, where it’s possible to become
the personal owner of a barrel of this aromatic liquid gold.
Bodegas
Suau was originally founded in Cuba in 1851 by the Mallorca tradesman Juan
Suau, and became the property of the Barceló and Mora families after the
Spanish Civil War. It’s now located in a former flour factory. The company
premises are surrounded by a 1.8 metre thick exterior wall, providing protection
from outside pollutants such as noise and smells and thereby creating a
microclimate in which rows of barrels full of this handmade brandy are housed.
The
Suau club was founded in 1992, by Angel Zuasti. He launched a private club initially
called ‘Amigos de Suau’ (Friends of Suau) so that brandy lovers could enjoy
their own personalized version of the spirit. Each member of the club buys a
barrel with a capacity of 32 litres; these barrels guarantee a better quality
final product than larger ones because a higher proportion of the liquid is in
contact with the oak. Their brandy is then stored in the Suau cellars. Only the
owner of the barrel and the producers themselves are authorized to handle the
individual stocks, and only eight bottles from each barrel can be extracted in
any one year in order for the brandy to meet the Suau brand standards. In this
way the brandy ages approximately a year, every year. The brandy, a spirit obtained from the
distillation of white wine, with an alcoholic content of between 36% and 40%,
is aged in American oak barrels. One of the exclusive privileges of membership
is that every bottle is numbered and personalized with the name of the barrel,
its owner, the intended recipient and the bottling date.
Juana Barceló, the
company director, tells us: ‘‘every brandy and every bottle here has its own
particular qualities: there are barrels which are 19 years old and
others only three years old.’’ The brandy itself is 15 years old when it is
transferred to the barrels. Members can choose when they take home their eight
bottles: some take them all at Christmas; others take them at intervals,
believing it is damaging to the barrel to take them all out at once. This of
course means that every brandy is different and exceptional.
The
winery also makes sure it replaces any brandy lost during the evaporation
process so that it always continues its slow maturing process. The company
keeps strict records and has established a ‘numerous clauses’ with a maximum of
500 club members. Currently, 448 of the barrels have been assigned owners, and
number 449 is about to be sold. Barrel number 500 is reserved for the winery to
be auctioned for charity. The
club is made up of many different nationalities some of the members are quite
famous but they remain secret.
A visit to
Bodegas Suau is a wonderful journey into the history of Spain and the New
World. By combining its age-old traditional techniques and modern technology,
Suau has created a particular style and a new way of understanding and enjoying
the luxury and sensual pleasures of brandy. I love the idea of a bespoke brandy
and creating something unique.
Bodegas Suau
Carrer Cabana, 12, Pont
d'Inca
www.bodegassuau.com
.
