Navarra

From its famed bull-running capital to its dry and rocky badlands, this northern Spanish region is blessed with a wide variety of international grapes, but its indigenous Garnacha is the rising star

- BETH WILLARD

In Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway tells us that Pamplona had changed since he had been there as a younger man, but after a drink (we assume more than one) it seemed to go back to the way it always was. Wines from Navarra have also changed over time, but they are returning to their roots, reflecting the character of their vineyards – as Hemingway would put it as they always were. To the southwest of Bilbao in Spain’s north, the Navarra region’s capital Pamplona is full of raucous tapas bars and is the setting for San Fermín, the festival that Hemingway famously brought to life. Up in the region’s northeast, Navarra borders France where the Pyrenees form a natural frontier of dramatic, dense forests. Dotted with ancient caves dripping with stalactites, this is home to the witches and wizards of Navarran folklore.