Rafael García: the prominent nurseryman who has become a wine producer (2024)

When asked about the origin of the plant material used in their new vineyards, a significant number of Spanish winemakers mention Vitis Navarra. A family-owned nursery founded in 1906 in Larraga (Navarra), Vitis Navarra has become an invaluable partner for many of them, whether they need high quality clones, want to study the plant material of their oldest plots or to ensure that a certain diversity of biotypes is introduced in their new plantings.

One of the nursery's most appreciated assets is the ability of Rafael García, the owner and soul of Vitis Navarra, to establish a clear correlation between specific plant material and the qualities of the finished wine. Thanks to the winery he has built on his new estate in Zayas de Báscones (Soria), near the village of Alcubilla de Avellaneda in DO Ribera del Duero, he is now able to present this relationship with greater detail and clarity.

The advantages he finds in Soria are unquestionable. "There are no contamination vectors, the elevation [almost 1,000 metres] means we can have spontaneous fermentations, plus the fact that this is a really attractive place to showcase our work. "We want to become a knowledge-sharing hub," says García.

Somewhere in Soria

The scale of the project is remarkable. The 787-hectare property is a 'coto redondo', a group of neighbouring rural estates belonging to a single owner. It was acquired by the Marichalar family after the seizure of land carried out by the Spanish government in 1855 and remained in their hands until it was sold to a resin company in the mid-20th century. Its most famous owner was the Viscount of Eza - the image of his crown can still be seen on the stone cairn next to which we photographed Rafael García.

The 120 hectares planted to date house the Basajaun collection, which can be described as Vitis Navarra's prospecting tool for collecting plant material. According to Basque mythology, Basajaun is the lord of the forest, who lives in the woods of Gorbea and Irati, protecting the cattle and warning shepherds against storms and wolves. Rafael García has transposed this character to an estate deep in Castilla, crossed by the Jacobean route of La Lana and the Camino del Cid. The ultimate goal is to characterise, preserve and protect the wealth of plant material recovered and classified by Vitis Navarra.

Due to the size and productive potential of the property, the nurseryman has turned into a grape grower and supplier - hence the reason for being in a prestigious DO - and eventually into a producer. The winery is now registered in the DO Ribera del Duero as Dominio d'Echauz. The idea is to process 100,000 of the half a million kilos produced on the estate.

"Selling five million plants a year to quality growers will allow us to pay for such a venture. The property will help us to work more closely with clients and open their eyes to the world of plant material," says the Navarrese nurseryman.

Noah's wine ark

Where does Basajaun get its material? Vitis Navarra has been selecting and collecting plant stock for several years, either through projects developed for prestigious clients such as Numanthia, Comando G,Alma Carraovejas,Gramona, Casa Castillo or Albamar, or in partnership with universities and public institutions. This includes plant material from ITACYL (Castilla y León Institute of Agricultural Technology) and the complete collection of varieties from IVICAM (Castilla-La Mancha Vine and Wine Research Centre), whose maintenance and conservation has been transferred to Vitis Navarra.

In recent years, a selection of around 2,000 biotypes of Tempranillo from Toro and 1,600 from the Ribera del Duero have been made. These have been sorted by village and include other varieties that have been planted together. Vitis Navarra has carried out similar work with Tempranillo from Rioja Alta and Alavesa and in the province of Toledo (Castilla-La Mancha).

Garnacha biotypes from Navarra, Aragon, Catalonia and Gredos are another important focus. In partnership with Barbadillo, significant research was also carried out on Palomino -it was done by pagos (sites) in 2023. Other projects include Xarel.lo from Penedès, a specific selection in the pre-phylloxera vineyards of Atauta (Soria) in Ribera del Duero, and the development of a mildew-resistant Mazuelo. "We can improve grape varieties thanks to intra-varietal variability," points out Rafael.

Sampling in historic vineyards is done randomly, collecting a maximum of 10 plants per hectare. Once the plant material is tested for viruses, the damaged stock is removed and the virus-free material is propagated in the nursery fields in Navarra to eventually become part of the biotype collection established in Soria.

Choosing the right clone

The certified clonal selections offered by Vitis Navarra include single clones and polyclonal massal selections. According to Rafael García, massal selections are not just a matter of taking shoots from the vines and sending them to a nursery to be reproduced. "You have to mark the vines according to certain criteria, taking into account the skin, the type of bunch, etc.: then you go through a selection for virus control, and then you make clone heads and carry out microvinifications of each clone to get the right polyclonal selection. This process can take six to seven years. The OIV is currently discussing the minimum number of clones required to define a protocol and approve these selections officially."

At Dominio d'Echauz, visitors can taste some of the nursery's material and compare, for example, three Tempranillo clones from Rioja. VN33, picked between Briones and Hormilla, has small, loose clusters, a low pH and a very short cycle, suitable for cold areas. The wine is very firm and taut. With its bright red fruit, the VN11 from Páganos is ideal for young reds and carbonic maceration reds, although it quickly picks up tannins from the oak. VN21 is a flesh-coloured Tempranillo mutation found in the Domecq vineyards of Rioja Alavesa; it is very expressive on the nose, with notes of blackberry and liquorice and grainy tannins. The ICVV (Rioja Institute of Viticulture and Oenology) calls it “black tempranillo”.

One of my favourite wines came from VN100, a Tempranillo clone found in a vineyard owned by the Balbás family in La Horra (Ribera del Duero). Tasted from a foudre, it was rich and fresh with an enveloping texture. VN69 came from a trellised, irrigated vineyard with cover crops. It benefited from the addition of 25% Garnacha, resulting in a round palate with refined tannins and notes of flowers and red fruit.

Garnacha and Albillo Mayor are two of the most popular varieties in Ribera del Duero and are among the most sought-after grapes from the estate. Producers like Garnacha for its suppleness and low pH, which help offset the effects of climate change, while Albillo's popularity is due to the growing demand for white wines and its unique character in a region where reds are dominant.

Even the layout of the vineyards is designed so that technicians can easily identify them. The 60 hectares facing south are trellised, irrigated and planted with cover crops to support the soil. The north-facing land features goblet-pruned, dry-farmed vineyards, some of which follow the keyline planting system.

Patricia Benítez, an expert Ribera del Duero winemaker after her experience at Dominio de Pingus and Milsetentayseis, advises the winery. In the 2023 vintage, 37 experimental microvinifications and 15 vinifications of the best plots and clones were carried out according to their winemaking potential and soils.

Dominio d'Echauz will be launched with the 2023 vintage. The range will include an estate wine that captures the characteristics of each new vintage, plus the single-vineyard El Terción and the promising limited production clarete María d'Echauz. The first wines are expected to be released in 2025. From then on, Rafael García will no longer be looking at wine from the nurseryman's point of view. He will also put himself in the shoes of a winemaker.

THE BASAJAUN DOCUMENTARIES

A good way of understanding the work of Vitis Navarra, and in particular the way in which it interacts with producers, is to watch the two documentaries that have been filmed so far. Both contain numerous testimonies from producers and soil and viticulture experts, as well as the opinions of Rafael García.

The first, called Basajaun, preservando el origen (Basajaun, preserving the origin), can be watched on Vitis Navarra's Youtube channel. It features, among others, Dani Landi of Comando G, Fernando Mora of Frontonio, Julián Palacios of Viticultura Viva, Pedro Ruiz Aragoneses of Alma Carraovejas, Bertrand Sourdais of Dominio de Es, viticultural consultant Julio Prieto and Ricardo Pérez of Descendientes de J. Palacios. Directed by Salvador Arellano and Miguel García Iraburu, the film won the Silver Biznaga Audience Award in the Cinema Cocina section at Malaga's Film Festival.

The second part, Basajaun, el regreso al terruño (Basajaun, back to the land), premiered at the Malaga Film Festival last March. Under the same direction, it focuses more on the soil (hence the presence of Chilean expert Pedro Parra) and on distinctive wine landscapes, such as the allbariza soils of Jerez, explained by Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez, Priorat's rugged contours with Sara Pérez, or the green, humid landscape of Domaine Arretxea in Irouléguy. There is also José Luis Mateo's (Quinta da Muradella) deep connection with his land in Monterrei, Álvaro Palacios' obsession to find the perfect vineyard, and the mineral-rich soils of Fuentenebro behind Milsetentayseis in Ribera del Duero. The documentary is expected to be available on a digital platform soon.