Valdizarbe

Location

In central Navarre, to the south of the Pamplona basin, constituting the nerve centre of the Way of St James through Navarre, where the route from Baja Navarre merges with that from Aragon. 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 zone runs alongside the river Arga, forming a zone of gentle hills and valleys.

Surface area

1,385 hectares.

Main varieties grown

Amongst the reds, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Cabernet and Merlot all have similar surface areas, whilst there is also some Chardonnay and Malvasía.

Soils

The situation is similar to the Baja Montaña zone, with a mixture of soils, depending on relief and rock type. In the northern most area the soils are of a varying depth, free from stones, and heavy textured on the grey marls of the marine Eocene period in the basin of Pamplona. On the remaining slopes, the soils are based on alternate marl and sand layers of the continental tertiary, with varying thicknesses and stoniness, with fine or silty loam textures, some with a highly characteristic reddish colour. As in the above mentioned zones, there are also vineyards on the alluvial valley floors and on the remains of the Arga and Salado river terraces and the Sierra del Perdón glacis, on practically flat land with no drainage problems, with deep loamy, frequently stony soils.

Climate

With regard to the climate, this zone forms the northern boundary for vineyards in Navarre and is the most humid one. Here, like Tierra Estella, the northern Sierras limit the influence of the Atlantic and the vineyards tend to occupy the sunniest spots. Located between the sub-humid zone in the north and the exceedingly dry zone to the south, the zone has some mean annual precipitation variations of between 544 to 807 mm. The most favourable vegetation periods for the vineyards range between 203 days in Otazu to 227 days in Puente la Reina.

Municipal districts and councils

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