Naturaleza Salavje Tinto
Naturaleza Salvaje means wild nature, and Azul y Garanza mean it. This is old-vine Garnacha grown on the edge of the Bardenas Reales, the semi-desert badlands of Navarra, where clay-calcareous soils sit at around 550 metres and the vines have decades behind them. It's a wine shaped by a genuinely wild landscape.
The estate farms organically and works regeneratively, and the cellar follows suit — spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, then ageing in amphora and neutral old barrels rather than new oak, so nothing gets in the way of the fruit and the place. It's 100% Garnacha, vegan, and about as honest a bottle of Navarran red as you'll find.
Expect a properly wild character: black pepper and a sweep of minty, herbal garrigue on the nose, giving way to raspberry, red cherry and a note of cola. There's a punchy tannic grip underneath, but the wine stays juicy, fresh and balanced at a moderate 13%. It's Garnacha with grit under its fingernails rather than a jammy crowd-pleaser.
Open it when you want personality over polish — a bottle for a lazy weekend and simple, direct food. It rewards drinkers who like a wine that tastes of somewhere specific.
How to Serve
Serve lightly cool, 15 to 16°C, in a standard red glass. A short decant helps the herbal side unwind. Drink over the next few years.
Where to Drink It
Brat in Shoreditch, whose live-fire cooking suits this wild streak. Planque, for the natural-wine faithful. Dandy in Newington Green, all good bottles and honest plates.
Food Pairings
Lamb chops off the grill, charred and pink, are made for it. I'd also happily drink it with a smoky chorizo and butter-bean stew, the pepper in the wine picking up the spice.
