CAN AXARTELL
Wine underground
German cosmetics entrepreneur Hans Peter Schwarzkopf has turned an abandoned quarry in Pollença into a singular winery. Wine was already being produced here in the 16th century, and now the place is a kind of laboratory devoted to the recovery of autochthonous varieties.
text C.M.M.
photography Íñigo Vega
In the valley of Pollença, at the foot of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, lies Can Axartell, a 200-hectare estate mentioned in the Llibre del Repartiment, a record book containing pledges of properties made by King Jaume I of Aragon, after he conquered Mallorca in 1229. Wine was already being produced on this land in the 16th century, although the vines were later replaced by a quarry for several centuries.
By the mid-20th century, the quarry was disused and the area deteriorated significantly. Until the well-known German entrepreneur Hans-Peter Schwarzkopf decided to restore it “to maintain respect for the original landscape, the ancient olive trees and the traditional grape varieties of [...]
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