Valdizarbe

Location
In central Navarra, just south of the Pamplona basin, constituting the nerve center of the Camino de Santiago through Navarra, where the Main Way merges with the Aragonese Way at the Romanesque Puente La Reina bridge. Main town: Puente La Reina.

Landscape
Bordered on the west by the spurs of the Sierra de Andía and, to the north, by the Sierra del Perdón, most of the Valdizarbe subzone runs alongside the Arga River, forming a landscape of gentle hills and valleys.

Surface area
920 hectares.

Main varieties grown
Among red varieties, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Cabernet and Merlot all occupy similar surface areas, with some Chardonnay and Malvasía.

Soils
Similar to those of Baja Montaña: a mixture of soils, depending on elevation and substrata composition. In the northernmost area, soils are of a varying depth, largely free of stones, and heavily textured atop the grey marls of the marine Eocene period in the basin of Pamplona. On the remaining slopes, soil depth and particle size vary, with layers of fine or silty loam alternating with marl and sand, and some areas showing a significant distribution of iron-rich, red deposits. Vineyards on alluvial valley floors–and on the remains of the Arga and Salado River terraces and of the Sierra del Perdón glacis–are practically flat, with no drainage problems and deep, loamy, frequently stony soils.

Climate
Valdizarbe forms the northern boundary of D.O. Navarra’s vineyards and is the most humid and verdant. As in Tierra Estella, the northern Sierras limit Atlantic influence somewhat and vineyards tend to occupy the sunniest exposures. Vineyard growing seasons range between 203 days in Otazu to 227 days in Puente la Reina.

Principal winemaking municipalities
Adiós, Añorbe, Artazu, Barásoain, Biurrun, Cirauqui, Echauri, Enériz, Garínoain, Guirguillano, Legarda, Leoz, Mañeru, Mendigorría, Muruzábal.