Alicia Eyaralar

At Tandem, we reproduce the traditional way of working the vineyard and wines with a philosophy of maximum respect for nature and minimal intervention in the wines. We are located in the northwest of the D.O. Navarra in the Yerri Valley at an altitude of 600 m, at the foot of the Camino de Santiago, where the ripening of the grapes occurs slowly due to the cold climate and the temperature difference between day and night. This results in the natural acidity of our wines, giving them freshness and elegance. The abundance of rain and snow also allows all the vineyard to be dry-farmed, with no irrigation. The strong afternoon winds help dry the humidity, providing very favorable conditions to avoid treatments in the vineyard.

In the winery, we practice what we call the ‘Tandem paradox’ because our wines are described as modern and fresh, yet we produce them as they were made in the past, without pumps, without intervention, relying on time.

The wines ferment with their native yeasts on the upper floor of the winemaking facility in stainless steel tanks, but without pump-overs: we use punching-down pistons, achieving a slow extraction and polished, fine tannins. The finished wines are transferred by gravity to underground concrete tanks where spontaneous malolactic fermentation takes place. Afterwards, our red wines remain for a minimum of 24 months in concrete tanks, decanting slowly to clarify naturally by sedimentation. One or two rackings are done per year, and sediments are removed manually. The wines are not cold stabilized or fined. We do it this way because we greatly prefer the resulting wines. Less is more.

For aging, we use 300-liter French and Central European oak barrels, aiming for finesse, spicy notes, and a balance between the wine and the wood, with the fruit being the protagonist.