Rondaia review: the Mallorca vineyard stay that pours its own Malvasia

Eight suites and villas, a 1960s pool and rows of young vines in a quiet valley below the Tramuntana. Here’s my review of Rondaia, a family wine estate near Esporles: the rooms, the wine, the one thing I’d change and who it suits.

I spent four nights at Rondaia in September, and it was my base for the whole of my time in Mallorca. From here I drove to Sóller and its port, up the Ma-10 mountain road and across to a winery in Binissalem, coming back each evening to the vines.

It’s an agroturismo on Sa Simentera de Canet, an old estate in the Sant Pere valley near S’Esgleieta, in the municipality of Esporles. The land was part of the Canet estate, shared out after Jaume I’s conquest of the island in the 13th century. It started life as a hunting pavilion, then became a sawmill and a natural cement works in the late 19th century, which is where the name Simentera comes from. Later it grew oranges. Today the orange groves have given way to an organic vineyard.

Quick verdict

Rondaia suits couples with a car who want space, quiet and wine on the doorstep, within easy reach of Palma, Valldemossa and the mountains. The space, the setting and the estate wine are the draw. The catch is food: with no restaurant on site, it needed a wider selection of food and drink to hand given the remote location.

My rating: 4/5

Check availability at Rondaia on Booking.com

Rondaia at a glance

• Where: Carretera de s’Esgleieta, km 2.1, 07190 Esporles, Mallorca
• Rooms: eight, split between suites in the main farmhouse and villas around the garden, all with a kitchenette and a private terrace
• Food and drink: breakfast (extra), an honesty bar with snacks and the estate’s wines, and a poolside snack bar
• Wine: the estate’s own organic wines, with tastings from €45
• Check-in: 3pm to 6pm (no front desk); check-out by 11am
• Getting there: about 25 minutes from Palma airport; a car is essential

My stay

The setting

The vines run right up to the buildings, with pine-covered hills closing in the valley behind. A long water reservoir cuts across the vineyard: the estate’s albercas store water for irrigation, and the biggest is up to 120 metres long.

The estate also takes in more than 20 hectares of Mediterranean forest, with walking paths that stay within the grounds, and gardens designed by the landscape architect Gabriel Arrom Ripoll. The Síquia d’en Baster, a protected water channel that carries water by gravity towards Palma, crosses the land too.

The room

My room had tall green-framed windows looking onto a dry-stone wall, a big bed with brass reading lamps, a sofa and a marble-topped table, fitted wardrobes in ribbed wood and an abstract painting on the wall.

Every suite and villa has a kitchenette, which matters here. The suites are in the main farmhouse, each laid out differently, with a sitting room, a lounge and dining room with the kitchenette, a double bedroom, a bathroom with both bath and shower, and a porch or terrace of its own. The villas sit in separate buildings facing a shared garden of olive and fruit trees: about 45 square metres inside plus a 40 square metre terrace. One villa is adapted for wheelchair users.

The pool

The pool dates from the 1960s and has been renovated, with loungers on the lawns, a pergola for shade and views across the valley and the vineyard. The honesty bar, Vino & Viandas, is close by, and there’s a snack bar by the pool.

The wine

The vineyard was planted between 2020 and 2022 and is farmed organically. It grows the island’s native grapes, Malvasia de Banyalbufar, Mantonegro and Callet, alongside Monastrell and Syrah, and one forest terrace with dry-stone walls has been restored for mountain vines.

There are three wines: Rondaia Blanc, a mineral white from Malvasia; Rondaia Rosat, a rosé from Mantonegro and Monastrell; and Rondaia Fusta, a Malvasia fermented partly in new French oak, rested in barrel for four months and then aged for at least two years in bottle. You can buy bottles from the honesty bar and drink them by the pool, on your terrace or in the wine bar.

Tastings cost €45 or €75, and there’s a picnic in the vineyard for €90, or €150 as a private picnic. All of them are booked through the estate’s website.

What stands out

• Space: eight rooms on a large estate, each with a private terrace and its own entrance.
• The setting: vines on every side, forest behind and long views down the valley.
• The wine: an organic estate wine you can drink where it’s grown, including a rare oaked Malvasia.
• The location: about ten minutes from Valldemossa and 20 minutes from Palma, yet it feels remote.

The catches to know before you book

• Food is limited. There’s no restaurant, so dinner means driving out. It needed a wider selection of food and drink to hand given the remote location: stock the kitchenette on the way in, as the honesty bar and snack bar only go so far.
• Breakfast costs extra. Listings put it at about €22 a person, served from 8am to 10am, in the dining room or in your room on request.
• You need a car, for meals as much as for sightseeing.
• Arrival is by arrangement. There’s no front desk: register online and contact the hotel at least 24 hours before you arrive. Late check-in, from 8pm to midnight, costs €80.

Location, prices and booking

The estate is on the country road between S’Esgleieta and Esporles, at the foot of the Serra de Tramuntana. Valldemossa is about ten minutes’ drive, central Palma about 20 minutes and the airport about 25. Sóller is about 25 minutes through the tunnel on the Ma-11: my guide to things to do in Sóller and Port de Sóller covers the tram, the port and the coast path to the lighthouse.

Nearer Palma, Bellver Castle, the city’s round Gothic fortress, makes my list of historic castles in Spain, and the long sands of Es Trenc, one of the best beaches in Spain, are about an hour’s drive south-east.

The hotel doesn’t publish its room rates, which change with the dates. Parking is free, pets aren’t allowed and the Balearic tourist tax is charged per person per night. You can book direct ([email protected], +34 608 062 764) or through Booking.com.

My verdict: is Rondaia worth it?

Yes, if you want a quiet, spacious base among the vines, with its own wine and with the mountains and Palma both close by. It just needed a wider selection of food and drink to hand given the remote location, so plan your meals before you arrive.

My rating: 4/5

Check availability at Rondaia

Map

Read next

• The best things to do in Sóller and Port de Sóller
• 15 of the best beaches in Spain for an idyllic escape
• 14 historic castles in Spain you have to visit
• My Spain travel guide

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