This is a small family winery located in San Martín de Unx in Navarra’s Baja Montaña, a sub-area where Garnacha is the dominant grape. Vinegrower Máximo Abete used to sell his grapes to the local co-operative, but moved onto making his own wines in the 1990s. After his death in 2011, daughters María and Yoanna together with Yoanna’s husband Juanma took over the business. They operate from new winemaking facilities in the outskirts of the village, but they have kept the old, traditional wine shop in the centre of San Martín.
Garnacha is the dominant grape in their 22 hectares of vineyards, although red grapes Tempranillo, Cabernet, Merlot and Graciano, and whites Viura and Chardonnay are also grown. Most of their plots are long narrow parcels surrounded by forests and planted at 700m of altitude on Vallvervitos valley, in the Guerinda mountains. Another interesting area is La Abejera where they farm old bush vines. In contrast to clay dominant soils in the valley, the slopes are chalky with brittle sandstone rock which allows roots to penetrate deep into the soil.
Production totals around 100,000 bottles split into nine different wines, all of them under the Guerinda brand. The range starts with the young Chardonnay Guerinda La Blanca (€7.8 at the winery’s online store), a Garnacha rosé called Guerinda Casa Lasierra (15,000 bottles, €6.30) and a single varietal red Garnacha (15,000 bottles, €6.40) with just a few months in barrel. It is named Guerinda Tres Partes (literally “three parts”) after the three members behind the project. Guerinda El Máximo (8,000 bottles, €8.4) is a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet and Merlot that pays homage to founder Máximo, the vineyards he planted and his style of winemaking. Their grandfather is remembered in Guerinda El Anselmo (€14.40 €), a red Reserva that it’s not produced every year.
Single-varietal wines include Guerinda Graciano Navasentero 3 +1 (€9.5), which exceptionally sources grapes from a close friend (hence de 3+1); dry-farmed Tempranillo Guerinda La Cruzica (8.4 €) and Guerinda La Abejera (3,000 bottles), a deep red with fine tannins made from their oldest Garnacha plots. The first 2014 vintage will be released by the end of 2016 with a retail price of around €19.
