Turnkey vineyards for the holiday finca

You originally come from the North Sea coast. That's not a place that's famous for its wine. How does a Frisian come to be a winemaker?

Henri Fink: The idea of training as a winemaker didn't come until after I'd finished school. There were no good career prospects for me in my home town of Bockhorn at the time. Most of my family still work at the Airbus plant near Wilhelmshaven. After a brief interlude studying social sciences, I was looking for something more tangible.

Did you already have a connection to wine before?

Henri Fink: Only in the broadest sense. My parents had a drinks shop.

So you were a real wine novice.

HenriFink: Let's put it this way, I wasn't born with it. A good friend gave me the idea of trying my hand at winemaking. So I wrote an application - one application to be precise - and got the training place straight away. That was in 2005.

What was your first impression of life as a winemaker?

Henri Fink: When I first came to the Moselle, I was fascinated. Vines everywhere, the steep slopes, I had never seen anything like it. It was my first ever trip to the south of Germany (laughs). Initially, I had a very romantic idea of viticulture and working in the vineyard. I wanted to enjoy nature and have a snack among the vines during my break. And that was actually the case there.

Where did you do your apprenticeship?

Henri Fink: At a winery in Maring-Noviand. The winery is one of the pioneers in organic viticulture on the Moselle and worked with Ecovin very early on. At the end of my training, I finally realised: this is what I want to do!

What happened next?

Henri Fink: By chance, I met a winemaker from the Palatinate who had been working in the USA since the 1980s. He was looking for someone to help with the upcoming grape harvest at his business in Michigan. So I applied for a visa, flew over and was there on time on the first day of the harvest.

In Michigan? Is there viticulture there?

Henri Fink: Yes, and not even that little. It's a classic cool-climate region with long winters and late budding. However, viticulture there benefits from the Great Lake effect, which cushions the weather extremes. Mainly Riesling, Pinots and Gamay are cultivated, but also other international varieties. Even Sangiovese! The guys are very keen to experiment.

What did you do there?

Henri Fink: Almost exclusively cellar work. The company cultivated around 150 hectares and I learnt there how a large winery works. Until then, I had no idea about cellar structure and systematic teamwork.

You stayed for one harvest?

Henri Fink: No, I was in the USA for two and a half years. To extend my stay, I was enrolled at Ohio State University to study oenology and viticulture. But at some point I had to go back. Because I wanted to deepen my knowledge, I trained as a technician at the viticulture school in Weinsberg. After this second training and work experience in the USA, I was ready to take on responsibility myself.

And then you emigrated to Mallorca?

Henri Fink: No, I went back to the Moselle and worked for two years as the field manager of a winery. My girlfriend at the time, also a winemaker, had always wanted to move to the south. When I got a job offer from a small, German-run winery on Mallorca, I passed it on to her. And as I was still tied up with work, she applied.

But it was clear that you would follow her?

Henri Fink: Yes, the plan was for me to take over the job later. She drove up and took up the vacant position - which she liked so much that she really wanted to continue there. However, the winery was too small for both of us.

So you were in Mallorca for love and unemployed?

Henri Fink: Exactly (laughs). I needed an idea of what I could do as a winemaker here on the island. As a result of these thoughts, the WeinWert company was founded in 2016.

What is behind it?

Henri Fink: WeinWert is a service company that plants and maintains vineyards on behalf of customers. There are an incredible number of people on Mallorca who spend part of their lives here but are not permanently on site. Most of them have large plots of land around their holiday homes because building regulations stipulate that you have to own at least 1.4 hectares of land. And this land often lay fallow and was not cultivated. That's where we started.

Was the idea of having your own vineyard accepted by the finca owners?

Henri Fink: We initially promoted the project with the question: "What do you need to be happy?" - and that worked well. Anyone who owns a finca, perhaps has a boat in the harbour, is of course missing nothing. But the idea of having their own wine appealed to many owners. There was also the aspect of landscape conservation, because who wants to look out from their terrace onto a wasteland? Viticulture is a cultural topic and encompasses nature, history and philosophy. Many of our customers already had a passion for wine.

How large are these turnkey vineyards and how many hectares do you cultivate today with wine value?

Henri Fink: We have planted vineyards in a wide range of sizes. The minimum size is 1,000 square metres. On average, the planting area of a vineyard is a few thousand square metres. We have also planted hectare-sized vineyards for a few customers. In total, there are now over 100 hectares across the whole island between Andratx and Artà.

And every customer receives their own wine?

Henri Fink: Exactly. The second step after planting the vineyards was to vinify the grapes. To do this, we founded the company Vino de la Isla and bought the château in Algaida, where both companies are now based. With the 2023 vintage, we are producing well over a hundred different wines at the château.

These are often just micro-vinifications, aren't they?

Henri Fink: Yes, that's why we have so many tanks in the cellar. Each customer has their own label, and some have several wines, depending on the size of the vineyard. During the hot phase, a round of wine tasting takes around three hours.

How do you keep track of the quantity of wines?

Henri Fink: It's sometimes a big challenge with the huge amount of data. We are currently working on a personalised software solution to structure the whole thing even better.

What characterises viticulture on Mallorca?

Henri Fink: If I compare it with the places where I have worked before, the Mediterranean climate is the key factor. The soils and growing conditions are completely different to what I was used to. For example, there is no need for slopes on the island, as there are no problems with ripening here. Here we pay particular attention to ensuring that the wines do not develop too much alcohol and retain as much acidity as possible. The soils are very alkaline and have high pH values. You can also feel this in the musts. I also had to adjust to these microbiological conditions first.

How did you do that?

Henri Fink: I experimented a lot. Producing a fresh, crisp white wine on Mallorca is sometimes not so easy. It requires a sure instinct. We did some experiments with a very early harvest, but that automatically brings a lot of green flavours into the cellar - you really have to consider all the details.

What about sparkling wines?

Henri Fink: It's actually a topic we're working on. We have some base wines from the Macabeo grape variety in the cellar that are definitely suitable for bottle-fermented sparkling wines. We will definitely try that. Because the demand is there and there is little sparkling wine from Mallorca.

What about the autochthonous Mallorcan grape varieties?

Henri Fink: Viticulture has a long tradition on Mallorca. Today there are still 3,000 hectares of vines, but in the past there were many more. I like working with the autochthonous grape varieties, especially with Manto Negro, a variety that can be used to make light red wines with great fruit.

You make wines for your customers. Don't you also want to make your own?

Henri Fink: I see every vineyard that I have planted here as my own and treat it accordingly. For me, all the wines in the cellar are my "babies". "Vino de la Isla" is a project that keeps me busy around the clock. I don't need my own label.