FOOD & DRINK
26
JUNE 2023
VINYES BINITORD Land Stewardship Initiatives - Flowers, kestrels, sheep and horsetails
Just 6km south of Ciutadella, there is a beautiful, small and eco-friendly vineyard run by Clara Salord. Binitord grew from a small, private, family dream into a successful business producing award-winning wines and Vermut. It was the stories of the delicious Vermut that drew PH WR YLVLW WKH ZLQHU\ WR ÀQG RXW PRUH In 2002, Clara’s parents and their 2 close friends started to grow vines on their own land and produced wine for their own use. They experimented with different ecologically friendly methods and, in 2007, they started to sell the wine. Clara has taken over the running of the business, after studying Oenology, the science of wine and wine making, at the Institute of Tarragona followed by further studies in the food industry. She continues to work closely with her professor, organisations such as the Institute for Genetic Analysis, and with GOB to improve the quality of the grapes and the production process. The vineyard now extends to 10 hectares.
When I visited the vineyard in early May, there was a beautiful display of herbs and wild flowers, including poppies, growing between each row of vines. The roots of these plants penetrate the soil, making it less dense and more like a sponge, so that rainwater can be absorbed much more efficiently. They also attract insects and wildlife and help keep the natural predators away from the vines. One of the most successful investments Binitord has made, with the help of GOB, is the installation of nesting boxes for kestrels. There are three of these located on tall poles, spread around the fields. Before the boxes were installed, sparrows and wood pigeons were eating 30-40% of the production. Now, with the kestrels on patrol, the loss of grapes has been reduced to just 1-2%. GOB has an animal sanctuary based at the Lithica quarry, near Ciutadella, which receives baby kestrels which have fallen from their nests. These are reared by volunteers and trained to hunt. They are then released back into the wild, and some were released at Binitord. They also have an owl nesting box on the side of the main building.
