The Navarre Designation of Origin Regulatory Board is the organisation responsible for the management of the D.O. and represents the region's producers and marketers. It is a public corporation, with its own legal status and financial autonomy. Its purpose is to represent, defend, guarantee, investigate and develop markets in order to promote the wines coming under the Designation of Origin. The wine quality control is entrusted to a single Control Body: the Agro-Food Quality Institute of Navarre (ICAN).
In total, 94% of the grapes grown in Navarre are red and only 6% white. Red varieties: Cabernet-Sauvignon, Garnacha Tinta, Graciano, Merlot, Mazuelo, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Tempranillo. White varieties: Chardonnay, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía, Moscatel de grano menudo (Muscat à petits grains), Sauvignon Blanc and Viura.
The Navarre Designation of Origin comprises five wine-producing areas which are clearly differentiated by their geographical location, orography, varieties cultivated, soils and climate: Baja Montaña, Tierra Estella, Valdizarbe, Ribera Baja and Ribera Alta. Together, these five areas stretch across more than 17,000 hectares of vineyards.
The Navarre rosé wines are made by the "saignée" bleed-off technique to obtain free-run juice. Rosés are normally made with the Garnacha variety, either by itself or blended with Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, to achieve wines with an eye-catching colour, rich and fruity aroma, and which are fresh on the palate. These wines should be consumed within a year of harvest.
A wide range of white and red grape varieties are grown in Navarre, and these are used to make many different styles of wine, adapted to suit consumer tastes. The wines include: young whites, made with Viura; young or barrel aged Chardonnays; rosé wines; young red and oak-aged reds; the barrel-aged categories of Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva; and also special wines. Mention should also be made of the sweet, white wines, generally made from Muscat à Petits Grains and the Muscat liqueur wines.