History

• The Vineyard
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• Production of the wine
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• The Mark of Origin Navarra
  • History
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• Calificación de cosechas vinícolas Navarra
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History

The present moment as experienced by Navarran wine has not appeared from nowhere, but is, rather, the result of a long road travelled through nearly 21 centuries.

The first indications that wine was produced in Navarra dates back to the first century following Christ. Roman wine cellars have been discovered that date back to that époque in Funes that, along with othr installations found in Liédena, Falces and Arellano, prove that wine was made at that time using industrial methods.

With the Muslim occupation, despite this religion banning alcoholic consumption, and from the 10th century with Christian monarchs, wine growing was consolidated and spectacularly developed. In the Middle Ages, Navarra was the land of vines and wines. Enough was produced for home use and sufficient for exportation.

Form the XI century, the pilgrims that walked the Camino de Santiago, took away from Navarra the idea that it was the land of good read and fine wine.

In the XVII century, the problem of accusations of excess arose. Laws were passed that prohibited the planting of vines in Navarra because they would occupy the agricultural space that could be used by cereals, leading to a shortage of bread. Tradition says that the left over wine was used as cement in the building of churches.

From the prosperity of those harvests, industrial wine cellars were born and many of them even today are the main producers of Navarran wine. At the end of XIX century, these cellars experienced a great boom, when the French came to buy wine because of the misfortune that its own vineyards experienced because of phylloxera.

This great moment did not last long because the plague crossed the Pyrenees and brought great punishment to the vineyards of northern Spain. It is calculated that 48,000 hectares were destroyed, of which 49,213 were in Navarra. Nevertheless, the vine growers and wine merchants were not beaten. Few vines remained, but the tradition and the wine growing vocation were intact.

From the XX century the sector was reborn with gusto and new stock were planted that were resistant to the insect. In 1911 a cooperative movement arose that gave birth to numerous wine cellars. Through the course of the century, the wine growing sector in Navarra experienced a tremendous growth.

In later years, and as a consequence of great renovation of wine growing such as improvements in planting systems and production, the introduction of new varieties, the D.O in Navarra has experienced a genuine revolution that has positioned it as one of the most important wine growing areas in Spain.