Navarra reds leave a lasting impression
Two of the season’s most vibrant reds hail from a part of Spain better known for a rollicking summer festival than for its wine. But your impressions of the region will surely expand once you uncork this month’s beguiling bottles.
Navarra, situated between Basque country, Rioja, and Aragón in northern Spain, is most famous for its capital city, Pamplona, where every July, the city swells with tourists from around the globe. They gather for the festival of San Fermín, the highlight of which is the running of the bulls, where cattle clatter down narrow streets, herded toward the bull ring, while sprinters — cheered on by spectators — race alongside. Fortunately, you don’t have to be anywhere near the stampede to enjoy delicious wine from Navarra. Just look south to the red-grape-centric winelands of the Ebro River Valley. There, faithful stewards of the land craft wine in rugged circumstances.
The semi-arid desert of Bardenas Reales, in Navarra’s southeast, is one of Europe’s most dramatic landscapes. Sloping escarpments and otherworldly rock formations rise up amid ravinecarved plains punctuated by scrubland and forest. Just north of the nature reserve is Azul y Garanza Bodegas, founded by Dani Nogué Sánchez, María Barrena Belzunegui, and Fernando Barrena Belzunegui. The trio cultivates grapes from an array of vineyards, including near-forgotten plots of 100-year-old garnacha vines. Fruit trees and shrubs planted amid the vines add to the biodiversity. At the renovated bodega, a former wine cooperative, they craft batches of wine in small concrete tanks that capture the character of individual plots. One brilliant example of their line of organic wines is an indigenous-yeast-fermented garnacha, aptly named “Naturaleza Salvaje,” which translates to “Wild Nature.”
From the winery, take an hour’s drive southwest to Ribera Baja, the warmest and southernmost subzone of Navarra’s winelands. In the municipality of Corella, at the foot of the Moncayo mountain range, is where you’ll find Bodegas Camino del Villar, the 200-acre farm where Maria Cruz Garcia and her husband Carlos Aliaga grow and make wine. Garcia’s name, and the phrase Enóloga en Corella (“Enologist in Corella”) appears on the front label of the second bottle in this month’s tasting. Crafted from sustainably farmed tempranillo and made with indigenous yeast, this wine is brought to shop shelves by Mary Taylor, a Connecticut-based importer who established her own company after a multifaceted career in the industry. Her portfolio features soulful pours, each conveying a distinctive sense of place, made by winemaking partners in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
Chances are good that you have spied Taylor’s white-label bottles, all under $20, at your favorite shop. Each emphasizes a specific appellation rather than a particular grape variety. In the case of the red from Bodegas Camino del Villar, the denominación de origen of Navarra is centered in bold type on the front, while tempranillo appears on the back. It’s a bit of gentle education, prompting us to contemplate the broader landscape from which the wine hails, rather than fixate on an individual grape.
Taylor, like the team at Azul y Garanza, wants to make sure we don’t miss the forest for the trees.
Azul y Garanza Bodegas “Naturaleza Salvaje” 2020
This exuberant garnacha conveys scents of dark berries and plums, mingled with crushed blue flowers and umami, leading to a tangy, attractively textural mouthful of red fruit. 13 percent ABV. Distributed by M.S. Walker. Low $30s. Retailers include Porter Square Wine & Spirits, Cambridge; Urban Grape, Boston; Fruit Center Marketplace, Hingham.
Mary Taylor Wine, Navarra 2020
Bright and lively, this tempranillo offers cherry and red plum aromas undergirded by leafiness and a pinch of garden soil. It tastes deliciously elemental, straightforwardly conveying ripe red fruits, gentle texture, and an appetizing tinge of salt. 14.1 percent ABV. Distributed by Mise Wines. $17-$19. Retailers include Inman Square Wine & Spirits, Cambridge; Dion’s, Waltham; The Wine Bottega, Boston.