Wine of the Week, 07/23/07: 2006 Artazu "Artazuri" Garnacha Rose

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Wine of the Week Profile 07/23/07
2006 Artazu “Artazuri” Garnacha Rosé

’06 Artazu “Artazuri” Garnacha Rosé $9.49
The tiny village of Artazu is located in the Navarra DO, which lies in northeastern Spain between France and the Pyrenees to the northeast and Rioja and the Ebro river valley to the southwest. Navarra is affected by Atlantic and Mediterranean maritime influences, and in addition the region benefits from the cold winds of the Pyrenees. Long under the shadow of Rioja and its Tempranillo-based wines, Navarra has in recent years shown itself beautifully suited to producing exceptional Garnacha-based wines, and often at fantastically affordable prices.

Artazu, the winery project, was created by Juan Carlos López de la Calle, founder of Rioja’s world-renowned Artadi estate. Juan Carlos’ goal was to create wines with great varietal purity outside of Rioja and Artazu was chosen for its extraordinary old vine Garnacha (Grenache in France) vineyards. The soil consists of limestone with alternating layers of red clay and rainfall in the region is quite moderate. Their “Artazuri” line up is one of the world’s great value lines and offers tremendous bang for the buck. Their 80-100 year old single vineyard “Santa Cruz de Artazu” Garnacha is a top level Garnacha that competes with high-end Garnacha-based wines the world over.

Artazu’s “Artazuri” rosé from is made exclusively from old vine Grenacha and produced using the saignée method of bleeding off juice after minimal contact with red grape skins. Lively, clear pink in color, it boasts loads of strawberry, orange peel and limestone scents that reappear on the palate. The attack is rich with elegant, ripe strawberry fruit and thirst quenching citrus notes that are accompanied by mineral and white pepper nuances that are wonderfully woven to the wine’s vibrant acidity. This medium- to full-bodied rosé is truly impressive. Serve with steamed shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce, steamed crab, grilled fish, roast chicken or char-grilled burgers slathered in barbecue sauce.

—Donald