Passionate about Navarra
The D.O. Navarra is located in the north of Spain, between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River Valley. Spreading across a diverse elevated landscape, it is composed of a multitude of microclimates. A large portion of the region is influenced by the presence of the Bay of Biscay to the north, partly shielded by Western tail of the Pyrenees and the plain of the Ebro River to its south.
The D.O. has 11,000 hectares of vines planted, divided into five distinct winemaking subzones: Ribera Baja, Ribera Alta, Tierra Estella, Valdizarbe, and Baja Montaña. The D.O. is governed by a Consejo Regulador (Regulatory Board) based in the historic village of Olite, in Ribera Alta.
The soils are mainly sedimentary and are composed of calcareous clay (lime rich clay), loam, sand and marl. The loamy topsoil tends to be quite fertile in the lower altitude and doesn’t necessarily yield the best wines. This might be an over simplification, but the best wines are grown away from the plains, in the more elevated areas.
In 2015, the D.O. Navarra celebrated its 80th anniversary, making it one of the oldest appellations in Spain. The regions winemaking history does go much further back since viticulture and winemaking activities have been shown to date from the Roman period.
More than 70% of the vineyards are planted with native grape varietals, of which 90% are red, and 10% are white.
Most often recognized as the icon of Navarra, garnacha can labeled the pinot noir of Spain as it is immensely impacted by the terroir. Believed to have originated in Aragon, the earliest mention of garnacha came in 1513 when it was referred to as “Aragones”.
As Jancis Robinson puts it, “Until recently reviled or at best ignored in much of the world, it is the grape chiefly responsible for two of the world's more celebrated reds, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and, a more recent star, Priorat”. Aside from being omnipresent in Northern Spain, it is shadowed by tempranillo, regarded as Spain’s noble grape. In the past 20-25 years, several producers have decided to produce garnacha-based wine that have more to do with pinot noirs than Australian Shiraz. In older vines where yields are lower, wines express a fleshy-fruit, spices and minerality that reflect the diversity in terroir.
From Navara, we have the 2016 Masusta (“blackberry” in Basque, but “fabulous” in Castellano) garnacha produced by Luis Moya Tortosa. It is made from vines planted in 1955 – 1960 at an elevation of about 600m. It is not a fruit bomb, but rather a complex garnacha, with layers of minerality and spices. Tons of texture and a lot going on here to make your taste buds happy. Approachable young, it will open up after decanting or some cellaring.
Currently available wines from Luis Moya Tortosa can be found here.
