Señorío de Arínzano at Galvin's

11-Nov-08 - To London for lunch at Galvin's Bistrot de Luxe with Fernando Chivite, who's launching his new Pago wines from the Señorío de Arínzano in Navarra. I first visited the estate in 1992 when it was hardly in production, and was shown round by the lovely Mercedes Chivite, who, along with her brothers, was tremendously enthusiastic about the potential for the site. Promotion to DO Pago status has finally proved them right although, sadly, she didn't live to see it - cancer got her in 2006 at the age of 43. A crying shame.

Life goes on, however, and the Chivite family spent heavily on refurbishing the old buildings on the site - including a beguiling chapel - and the King and Queen performed an official opening once the work was complete. Although the DO Pago legislation wasn't passed until 2003, it had been mooted as early as 1999 and the family decided that from the 2000 vintage they'd set aside some of the best wines in the hope that one day they'd able to market them as individual estate wines. It took a while (and a seismic shift in the wine regulatory body in Navarra) but it eventually did happen at the end of 2007. I met Fernando at Madrid-Fusión in January this year and tasted the wines, which didn't, at that stage even have proper labels. Eleven months on the designs have been perfected and the wines are ready for the market, although it's unlikely that Berkmann's, who handle the other Chivite wines, will be the agents.

The restaurant was busy ("I thought you were having a recession" exclaimed Fernando. "It doesn't look like it here!") And they'd decanted the three wines for us. This is how they showed:

Señorío de Arínzano 2000 - soft-fruit, aromatic//big, rich fruit with lovely silky tannins, and a soft, rich, long finish. 18/20

Señorío de Arínzano 2001 - a darker fruit style, more damsony on the nose//dusky fruit and more tannins (understandably) than the 2000, but that same loving, silky finish. 18/20

Señorío de Arínzano 2002 - rather closed on the nose with hints of dark fruit and a bit of smoky oak//but big fruit bursts forth on the palate with tremendous structure and complexity and the finish goes on for ever. Not ready yet but this will be a blockbuster. 19/20

Future developments will see the abandonment of Cabernet-Sauvignon in favour of Tempranillo, and there may be a barrel-fermented Chardonnay at some point. Most of the wood is Alliers. There won't be a 2003 as Fernando didn't think the grapes were good enough, but the 2004 has just been bottled. Oh, and they sell for €80-€90 a bottle, although a UK price has yet to be decided.

Lunch was an exceptionally convivial affair, with Fernando and his export manager, and the ever-genial Charles Metcalfe (his new book on Portugal, by the way, is the best ever on the subject). We were able to 'road-test' the wines we'd just tasted with food, and I decided to give them a hard time with the first course by ordering Bayonne ham, which came with tiny cocktail onions and gherkins. The combination was unexpectedly delicious, but I think a white wine would have performed rather better. I gave in over the main course and ordered a tagine of lamb with cous cous, aubergine caviar and harissa which was, quite frankly, better than anything I've ever had in Morocco. The lamb simply fell off the bone and the wines were exactly right with it: especially the 2002 which had seemed a little 'hard' during the tasting, but meshed with the aromatic flavours of the dish to perfection - indeed, it even saw the harissa off. These are magnificent wines destined for greatness.