Viña Zorzal: expressive naturally made wines from Navarra, Spain
Website: https://vinazorzalwines.com/en/about-zorzal-wines/
Viña Zorzal are based in Navarra, where they are making not only some of the most interesting wines in Navarra, but also in all of Spain. The winery was begun by Antonio Sanz in 1989 as Vinícola Corellana, producing some 2 million bottles. In 2007 his three sons began working here, and this was the beginning of a change in direction: instead of making lots of wine, the focus became more on quality and expressing the place through the lens of the native grape varieties of the region. The Sanz brothers divide the labour: Iñaki runs the winery and manages things, Mikel tends the vineyards, and Xabi does the selling. I tasted with Xabi in London.

They now have 52 hectares of vineyards (across six different villages), owned and leased, many of them old, and they take a low-fi approach both in the vineyard and the cellar. They do everything manually, and don’t till the soil, using native plants as ground cover and compost to add nutrients to the soil. In the cellar, fermentations are spontaneous and they try to avoid racking. There’s no filtration or fining and sulfites are used in very limited doses.
The vines are untrellised (bush vines) grown on rocky, stony limestone-based soils with varying levels of clay content. The climate is quite continental, with long dry summers and cold winters (rainfall is approximately 500 mm annually).
Zorzal translates as thrush, and the image of this bird is their logo. As well as their own wines, they have made collaboration wines with Michelini in Argentina (after a trademark dispute, they are now friends) and a NatCool with Niepoort.
THE WINES

Viña Zorzal Sea of Dreams White 2022 Navarra, Spain
Sea of Dreams is a pair of collaboration wines with UK importer Indigo Wine. This was a warm vintage where they picked early and worked the skins less. Fresh and chalky with nice fruit: white peach, pear, fine citrus. Quite textural. 92/100

Viña Zorzal Garnacha Joven 2022 Navarra, Spain
They work six different villages and this is the blend of Garnacha from all of them. Light coloured, this is aromatic with fine red cherries and a hint of ginger. Sappy and vibrant with a hint of pepper. Silky and delicious. 93/100
Viña Zorzal Sea of Dreams Red 2020 Navarra, Spain
This is Garnacha. Fresh, showing nice detail, and has a sappy edge to the redcurrant and red cherry fruit. Lovely weight here with some nice acidity. Supple. 92/100
Viña Zorzal Galerga 2021 Navarra, Spain
This is the second vintage of Garnacha from Galerga in the north. Five plots, vinified and aged separately and then blended in a 5000 litre foudre. Sweet, rounded and textured. Fine and linear with nice purity, good acid and some structure. So good. 94/100

Viña Zorzal Senora de las Alturas 2021 Navarra, Spain
Single-plot Garnacha, fermented and aged in 500 litre barrels. Nice texture and real elegance with dried herbs, red cherries and nice weight and freshness. Juicy and refined. 94/100
Older notes:
Viña Zorzal Cuatro del Cuatro 2019 Navarra, Spain
14% alcohol. Graciano. Stainless steel ferment, then matured in mostly old oak of various sizes. Bright, juicy and supple with sweet, balanced strawberry and raspberry fruit, as well as good acidity. Stylish and elegant with lovely focus and brightness. In a light, expressive style, this is really good, with a dusty, dry finish that works quite well. 93/100
Viña Zorzal Malayeto 2019 Navarra, Spain
14% alcohol. The first of the unique parcels to be bottled separately. Garnacha. Lovely aromatics with sweet, floral raspberry and cherry fruit. The palate is rounded and elegant with lovely sweet fruit, a touch of cinnamon, some pepper and amazing brightness allied to the smooth ripe fruit. This is elegant and fine: such a lovely wine. 95/100
Viña Zorzal Señora de las Alturas 2019 Navarra, Spain
14% alcohol. Garnacha, old vines on own roots. Fine and expressive with fresh cherry and plum fruit, a touch of spice, and good structure. There’s finesse and purity here with superb balance. There’s a spicy edge to the tannic structure that works really well. 94/100
Viña Zorzal Lecciones de Vuelo 2019 Navarra, Spain
14% alcohol. This is a collaboration with Fredi Torres. Garnacha, whole cluster. Matured in a 700 Nomblot concrete egg and a used 500 litre barrel. Bright floral nose with red cherries, dried herbs and some pepper spice. The palate is fresh and lively with raspberry and cherry fruit with some silkiness but also some appropriate structure. Juicy and grainy. Very stylish. 95/100
Viña Zorzal Punto de Fuga 2018 Navarra, Spain
13.5% alcohol. This is a collaboration with the Michelinis from Argentina. Whole cluster Garnacha matured in two 500 litre barrels. Reduced on the nose with some spice and pepper, as well as some herbal hints. Juicy, bright and linear on the palate with taut raspberry and cherry fruit. Juicy and structured, and the reduction doesn’t detract from it too much. Such a distinctive wine, with potential for development. 93/100
Viña Zorzal Punto de Fuga 2019 Navarra, Spain
13.5% alcohol. This is whole cluster Garnacha. It’s pure, elegant and fine with amazing finesse to the sweet cherry and strawberry fruit. Open and elegant with precision but also a silky richness. Has some spicy structure, too. Very fine. 95/100
Viña Zorzal Señora de las Alturas 2019 Navarra, Spain
14% alcohol. This is a single parcel Garnacha from the Pontigos parcel, with ancient pre-phylloxera vines still on their own roots. It’s just so fresh, layered and intense. Fresh and vital with juicy cherry fruit as well as red berries. Linear and focused with low extraction but lots of flavour. Has a slight spicy underlay but the focus is on the fruit. Very fine and bright. 94/100
UK agent: Indigo Wine