September 11

lecture series
"FROM THE MUSES TO ARÍNZANO. WINERIES IN TIERRA ESTELLA".

Wine in Tierra Estella in the Navarrese context

Carmen Jusué Simonena
UNED Pamplona

A historical vision of wine, vineyards, their extension and even their problems has in a good part of the Iberian Peninsula, and of course in Navarre, an essential place of reference letter , it is the magnificent work Vignobles et vins du Nord-Ouest de l'Espagne by A. Huetz de Lemps (1967), inserted within the best tradition of regional geographic analysis that opened the guidelines for diverse programs of study carried out later on. In this workshop we tried to offer some notes that bring us closer to this millenary crop in the region, given that there are several important works that deal with this history in detail, such as those by J. Sauleda Parés, Viñas, Bodegas y Vinos de Navarra (1988), Vinos de Navarra (1991) and the more complete Historia del vino en Navarra ( 2000).

Between the Pyrenees and the Ebro. In Hispania

More than 2000 years have passed since the first news about the vine in this region, more than 20 centuries from the ancient feral vines to the domestication of the vines to give more and better fruit, because one of the great riches of wine is its solera, as well as the climate, the soil or the hand of man that are the elements that make it possible.

As in other areas of the Ebro valley, the presence of vines in the pre-romanization period is an archaeologically proven fact. This is the case of the Alto de la Cruz settlement in Cortes de Navarra or in the excavation campaigns in the necropolis of El Castillo (Castejón, Navarra), where the elements of a funeral banquet appear, reflected in the iron grill, the ladle, trivet, cauldron and spit, which indicates the complexity of the funeral ritual, perhaps with the presence of wine.

In any case, in addition to this brief information, Navarre was a land of vineyards and wine since the Roman occupation of the territory set in motion its well-known exploitation and exploitation mechanisms. The archaeological remains, the epigraphic or literary testimonies more or less abundant show extensive regions of the ager vasconum where the wine exploitation was daily and relevant. In fact, the geographer and traveler Strabo, from the 1st century, when describing the customs of the different peoples of the northern peninsular, mentions "They drink zythos, and the wine, which is scarce, when they obtain it is consumed immediately in the great family feasts".

In this sense, it is essential to mention some sites, villas, in which the wine facilities have an important presence. This is the case of the villa of Arellano or the villa of Liédena or those of San Esteban and Los Villares de Falces or the villa of Funes.

Winery of the Roman villa of Arellano.

Roman art, faithful representation of the people who developed it, transmits a practical and utilitarian sense and temperament, with an outstanding personality, based on the importance of technique, and reflected in the architectural works, although with great importance also of the other manifestations, such as sculpture, painting or mosaics.

The presence in this art of grapes, vines, branches, allegorical elements of wine... is constant. The mosaics, the decorated funerary stelae, the votive altars, some bronze figurines, as well as various reliefs, in addition to the many wine installations, eloquently convey the importance of the vine in this land.

Grapes and vines in the decoration of the doorway of Santa María de Olite.

Age average

Consequently, in view of these previous findings, any general analysis of this question for the medieval period must take into account this retrospective image, regardless of the fact that the almost total absence of information hinders the desirable link between the Late Antique period and the first centuries of the Middle Ages, when the news already acquire a specific weight.

A scarce issue of documents from the end of the 10th century, and more than a hundred from the following century, show a panorama in the kingdom of Pamplona, prior to the total occupation of the Ribera, with a dense wine-growing exploitation in the pre-Pyrenean basins of Pamplona and Lumbier - Aoiz and in the western area of the current Merindad of Estella, areas in which a high issue of populations with known exploitations is documented, as well as a considerable density in some of them, that allow to observe exploitations that reach many peasants of the respective villages.

An enumeration of the localized mentions, even a cursory one, would undoubtedly be excessive, given that the list of towns or villages with express mentions is close to two hundred. However, it should be kept in mind that the fundamental sources are the documents of the most important monasteries of the kingdom at that time: San Salvador de Leire, Santa María de Irache, Monastery of La Oliva and, to a lesser extent, those of the cathedral of Pamplona.

Irache Monastery. Its documentation is very explicit on various aspects of vineyards, estates and crops.

As for the yield of the vineyards, prices, tasks, commercialization or types of wine, the documentary data does not provide much information in this area of undeniable interest, and curiously the oldest documents of the eleventh and twelfth centuries show greater possibilities, since they project a landscape of small plots, similar to other European regions, less than average hectare and below one hectare, in which are interspersed one or two medium or large farms that correspond to the manorial reservation .

Several miniatures or artistic manifestations of this period are very expressive of the different agricultural tasks that were carried out in the vineyards.

Phylloxera and cooperativism. Towards the present day

The beginning of the 19th century, during which important changes took place in the wine industry, appears to be linked, as in previous centuries, to a basically rural community, even in the most urbanized areas, and consequently linked to traditional customs; in final, social behavior patterns that came from very far back, although generalized in a good part of the Peninsula.

It was also a convulsive century, witnessing great upheavals such as wars, plagues, disentailments and social transformations. However, vine cultivation had experienced a significant increase, reaching its peak around 1880, coinciding with the development of phylloxera in France and the opening of borders for Spanish wines.

In fact, its cultivation in Navarre must have reached 50,000 hectares, status which changed radically barely a century later due to the recovery of vines in France, the paralysis of exports and the arrival of phylloxera in our vineyards. It must have been particularly cruel to a landscape shaped for so many centuries by vineyards, to which more than 30% of the cultivated land was devoted.

However, there was a conjunction of several factors throughout the 20th century such as:

1. The creation of the association de Viticultores Navarros (1912).

2. The celebration of the National Viticulture congress in Villava (1912).

3. The strong expansion of cooperative wineries and private wineries after the Civil War.

4. The regulation of the sector and the creation of the "Navarra" Designation of Origin and the Regulatory committee (1958).

5. The increase in the number of hectares under vine, some 42,000.

6. The march towards a new stage in the 1980s with the creation of EVENA (1981).

7. The increase in bottling and the emergence of new wineries.

8. The birth of the association de Exportadores de Vinos de Navarra (1982).

9. Changes in the framework varietal.

10. The appearance of confraternities and brotherhoods, among which the Cofradía del Vino de Navarra stands out.

Headquarters of committee Regulador del vino de Navarra.

These factors, in addition to many others, allow an enthusiastic look towards the future, towards a future that the legacy of 2000 years of viticulture in Navarra makes it strong, robust and full of hope.