Navarra’s Bodega Otazu has been awarded DO Pago status, equivalent to France’s Grand Cru.
Otazu is the third winery in Navarra and the seventh in Spain to gain this superior category, applicable to 92.4ha of the estate’s 115ha vineyard.
Otazu’s Pago wine is expected to hit the market in late 2010. It is sourced from Tempranillo, Merlot and Cabernet, as well as a few hectares of Chardonnay.
‘This award is the fruit of 20 years of hard work to recover this all-but-forgotten ancient vineyard, which has nothing in common with the rest of Navarra or even Spain,’ Otazu’s general manager Javier Bañales said.
‘Our wines are the product of an Atlantic climate and we have made great efforts to preserve their unique character.’
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Written by Jules Stewart
