The Navarra D.O. (Denominacion de Origen) has a long and rich history in Spanish winemaking. Located in Northwestern Spain, just south of the town of Pamplona, Navarra borders the Basque Country to the West and the neighboring D.O. of Rioja, with which it shares a sub-region, known as Rioja Baja. In the greater region, five sub-zones cover approximately 13,000 hectares, each composed of different climates and soil types: Valdizarbe in the North has mostly chalky soils, Baja Montana in the Northeast has limestone and gravel soils, Ribera Baja to the South has ochre silt and calcareous soils rich with limestone, Ribera Alta in the center of the region has calcareous marls and alluvial silt soils, and Tierra de Estella to the West has soils that resemble Ribera Bajas. Unlike its neighboring region, Rioja, Navarra has many French grape varietals planted (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc) which are slowly supplanting the local garnacha (grenache). In the Northern portions of Navarra, the terrain is very mountainous, while further South it is more flat where the region merges with the Iberian Central Plain. Both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean moderate radical shifts in temperature, and the Pyrenees mountains help protect the region from mistral winds that begin in France.

Two historical facts of note about Navarra are that there has been a recent discovery of vines that have been dated to five million years ago, and in the Eleventh Century AD, when Navarra was a separate kingdom; the region played a key role in Christian Spain because conquering Moors could not penetrate the area.

From vineyards that border the Ebro River, at elevations between 400 and 600 meters, the 2002 “Artazuri” Garnacha is made from the grapes of 75 year-old Garnacha vines. The wine is aged in both steel and old wood tank (‘foudres’ in France), to have minimal impact on the wine’s young fruit aromas and fresh flavors.

The wine is shy on the nose initially, with black cherry and a leafy trace of menthol. Once open for a few minutes, the bouquet expands and shows rosemary and minty herb aromas that also show up on the palate. There is a good definition of tart black cherry fruit on the mid-palate, along with notes of tobacco and spices that linger in the mouth. The wine has a polished character that belies its price point, and major wine writers Steven Tanzer and Robert Parker have greatly admired the previous vintage of this wine, calling it a tremendous value and rating it 88 and 92 points, respectively. This wine matches up well with most any dinner plate: pasta, red meats, fish, chicken and steamed vegetables, and it is a Òfood pleaserÓ for party fare, as well.

—Chris