Reign in Spain

This was his prize for winning our annual Fiendish Wine Quiz in this magazine which posed 30 extremely difficult wine questions.

I met Andrew and his wife Jacqueline at Heathrow for our flight to Bilbao. Ahead of us were two days of visits to wineries, a castle and a tour of Spain’s most famous bull-running town. From the airport it was a two- hour journey through the spectacular mountains to Pamplona, the capital of the region and that evening we headed out on the town for some typical Navarran food.

Here tapas are known locally as “pinchos” – which pretty much describes the small dishes of food served in the many bars of Pamplona. Mushrooms on toast, jamón, squid and stuffed peppers were all on the menu, helped down by some warm-flavoured, ripe red wine of Navarra.

Navarra is sandwiched between Rioja and the Pyrenees and was once an important kingdom which stretched over the border into France and to Barcelona in the south. They have been growing grapes here since Roman times, and probably long before that, but it was the pilgrims on their way to Santiago to Compostela which acted as a driving force for the region. With thousands passing through each year, an industry grew up providing food and wine for them. They still travel along the pathways of the region and can be seen in the city, each carrying the traditional scallop shell which identifies them as pilgrims.

These pilgrims also brought fresh ideas and even some new grape varieties. Navarra has never been afraid of trying new things and while the local red grape variety Garnacha has been important for centuries, Tempranillo has now become the most widely-grown red grape with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and even Syrah adding variety.

Other Spanish varieties such as spicy Graciano and the tannic Mazuelo are also being grown in tiny quantities, while experimentation with other grapes such as apricot-scented Viognier is allowed.

Leading the way in experimentation is the family company of Ochoa which was our first wine visit of the day. A large lorry-load of grapes was just arriving, machine-picked that morning to get them from vine to tank in the shortest possible time. The family owns 143 hectares of vines, mainly around the winery, with some on higher ground a short distance away. For years Javier Ochoa headed up the local viticultural research station, but then retired to apply some of his research to his own family vineyards.

Now his two daughters Adriana (winemaker) and Beatrix (marketing) are taking an increasing role in the business. Wine production is definitely the most important factor at Ochoa but they do it in the right way with the environment considered at every step, so much that this is a carbon-neutral winery, one of the first in Spain and even the soil is worked in a particular way to capture carbon dioxide.

The wines have developed and improved each year I have tasted them, and on this occasion I enjoyed the fresh-tasting Viura Chardonnay 2010 blend, a raspberry-infused, well-structured Tempranillo Crianza 2008 and a tremendous 2007 Graciano Mil Gracias. Graciano is usually a bit-part player in a blend, but this wine really shows individuality and lively berry fruit.

The next visit was to Chivite, a larger, perhaps grander company but one which is also pushing experimentation forward in the region. Still family-run, Chivite can trace its involvement in wine back to the 17th century but it is far from being an old fusty company.

The most recent investment is a cutting-edge winery on a large isolated woodland site which was already home to some ancient buildings. Rather than tear them down, they have been integrated within the whole design which gives the winery a strange transitional appearance from the outside, but inside everything is sparkling new.

A large part of the woodland has been set aside for wildlife to balance the ecological damage from agriculture.

It was at Chivite where we decided to go out to the vineyards see the harvest being brought in. On a steep slope a gang of pickers was working up and down the rows in dedicated silence, each one searching for the tiny bunches of Chardonnay grapes.

As they filled their small containers with grapes, they carried them to the ends of the rows and gently tipped them into crates which were carried away on tracked vehicles to avoid compacting the soil. These grapes would be back at the winery and in the tanks before the end of the day.

Tasting through the range it is clear that Chivite is also pushing the quality of Navarra wines forward. The red Chivite 2005 is Tempranillo-based with ripe, redcurrant fruit underpinned by judicious oak, while the Chardonnay 2007 captures fresh lively melon and peach fruit. Arinzano is the name of the “pago” – a single vineyard wine which ranks with just a handful of the top wines in Spain.

Tasting two vintages of this wine it is concentrated, individual and elegant.

The wines of Ochoa are stocked by Bon Coeur in Masham (01765 688200) and by Calder Wine Appreciation (01302 714700) while Chivite wines are available at Waitrose and The Wine Society.

But our winner’s trip was not all wine and tasting. There was a visit to the historic castle at Olite, home of the Kings of Navarra since the 15th century and a tour of Pamplona, taking in the famous bull-running streets where, for a week every year foolish young men and women run ahead of a herd of young bulls.

Thankfully there were no bulls in Pamplona when we visited, just good wine, good food and excellent sunshine, although Andrew and Jacqueline seemed keen to return. “This is the first time we have left our children and come away on our own,” they said, and since Annabel, Charlotte and Eleanor are keen travellers I am sure the family will be back in the region soon.

My thanks to everyone in Navarra who provided such an excellent experience, including the truly excellent new hotel Palacio de Guendulain, a genuine old palace converted into one of the chic-est hotels I have stayed in.

I have no idea where we will be going next year but look out for the next Fiendish Wine Quiz around Christmas. This trip will be difficult to follow, but I am sure we will find somewhere good to visit.