Minimal Intervention, Cool-Climate Elegance from Navarra
Founded in 2003 by Alicia Eyaralar and José María Fraile, Bodegas Tandem is located in the Yerri Valley of Navarra, northern Spain. Surrounded by the Urbasa and Andía mountain ranges, the winery benefits from a unique meeting point between the Atlantic and Mediterranean climates, producing wines with freshness, balance, and remarkable elegance. The name Tandem, meaning "at last" in Latin, reflects the founders' dream of creating a winery dedicated to authentic, terroir-driven wines.
At the heart of Tandem is a commitment to sustainable, traditional viticulture. The vineyards are dry-farmed without irrigation, herbicides, or unnecessary chemicals, allowing the vines to develop deep root systems and naturally express the character of the land. The winery works closely with long-term grower partners, cultivating varieties such as Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Viura with minimal intervention in the vineyard.
In the cellar, Tandem follows a philosophy of minimal intervention while embracing modern precision. Grapes are handled entirely by gravity, avoiding pumps that can stress the wine. Fermentation is carried out gently using traditional punch-downs rather than mechanical pumping-over. The wines are naturally clarified through extended ageing in underground concrete vats, with no fining, no cold stabilisation, and only minimal filtration before bottling. The result is wines that are pure, expressive, and faithful to their origin.
Rather than producing powerful, heavily extracted wines, Bodegas Tandem focuses on freshness, finesse, and drinkability. Their wines showcase the cooler side of Navarra, offering vibrant fruit, refined tannins, and a strong sense of place. While rooted in traditional Spanish varieties, their thoughtful, low-intervention approach gives the wines a modern elegance that appeals to both classic wine lovers and those exploring more naturally made wines.
Type: White Wine (Organic / Fresh & Textural / Minimal Intervention)
Region: Navarra, Spain
Grapes: 100% Viura
Alcohol ABV: 13%
Tasting Profile and Key Notes
Aroma:
Fresh and expressive with aromas of white peach, pear, green apple, and citrus peel. Delicate notes of fennel, fresh green tea, and white flowers add an herbal complexity, while a subtle mineral character reflects the clay-loam soils of Navarra.
Palate:
Dry, medium-bodied, and beautifully textured with refreshing acidity. The palate shows flavours of white peach, lemon, pear, and green tea, complemented by a gentle creamy texture from lees ageing. Mineral notes and a clean, slightly saline finish give the wine excellent freshness and length.
Winemaking
The 100% Viura grapes are harvested from vineyards in Navarra and fermented naturally with wild yeasts in tanks at controlled temperatures around 15–16°C. The wine is aged on its fine lees with regular bâtonnage for approximately 4 months, creating additional texture and complexity while preserving the purity and freshness of the variety.
Farming
Bodegas Tandem works with vineyards in Navarra, a region influenced by both Atlantic and Mediterranean climates. The vineyards are planted on clay-loam soils, where warm days allow ripe fruit development while cooler conditions help maintain acidity and freshness. Sustainable vineyard practices and careful harvesting aim to express the natural character of Viura and the Navarra terroir.
Type: Rosé Wine (Organic / Fresh & Fruity / Minimal Intervention)
Region: Navarra, Spain
Grapes: Garnacha (Grenache) & Graciano
Alcohol ABV: 14%
Tasting Profile and Key Notes
Aroma:
Bright and expressive with aromas of fresh strawberry, raspberry, red cherry, and redcurrant. Floral notes of rose petals are complemented by hints of citrus peel, watermelon, and a subtle candy-like freshness. The combination of Garnacha’s juicy red fruit and Graciano’s floral, spicy character gives the wine a lively and aromatic profile.
Palate:
Dry, fresh, and medium-bodied with vibrant acidity. Flavours of strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, and grapefruit are balanced by a gentle mineral freshness and a clean, refreshing finish. The wine has a slightly fuller texture than many light rosés, making it versatile both as an aperitif and with food.
Winemaking
The grapes are carefully selected from vineyards in Navarra, where the warm Mediterranean influence helps develop ripe fruit character while maintaining freshness. The wine is made with gentle pressing and cool fermentation to preserve the delicate aromas and bright colour of the grapes. Minimal intervention techniques allow the natural fruit expression of Garnacha and Graciano to shine through.
Farming
Bodega Tandem focuses on sustainable vineyard practices and environmentally conscious winemaking. The vineyards of Navarra benefit from a unique combination of Mediterranean warmth and cooler continental influences, allowing Garnacha and Graciano to achieve ripe fruit flavours while retaining acidity and freshness.
Type: Medium to Full-Bodied Red (Sustainable / Low-Intervention)
Region: DO Navarra, Spain
Grapes: 100% Garnacha (Grenache)
Alcohol ABV: 14.5%
Tasting Profile and Key Notes
Aroma: Explosive dark mountain berries, black cherries, and violets, underpinned by wild balsamic herbs, thyme, and rosemary scrubland.
Palate: Highly concentrated and savory with a wide, mouth-filling texture. Dense blackberry fruit layers crash into a prominent chalky mineral backbone and a refreshing, high-altitude snap of orange-blossom acidity.
Winemaking
The hand-picked mountain grapes undergo a 10-day partial maceration and fermentation at a controlled 25°C using purely indigenous wild yeasts. Cap-plunging (pigeage) is performed manually without mechanical pumps, after which the juice is racked entirely by gravity to lower-story, lined concrete vats to complete fermentation. The wine is kept in these concrete vats for 5 months for natural fining, stabilization, and malolactic conversion before being bottled by gravity with minimal filtration.
Farming
The estate grapes are grown in the northernmost, coolest sector of Navarra within the pristine Yerri Valley, situated at an altitude of 600 meters above sea level. Vines plunge into deep clay-loam soils that receive a healthy 600 mm of annual rainfall, eliminating the need for irrigation. The region experiences intense Atlantic climate influences and heavy mountain winds, providing a naturally cool microclimate that allows for minimal-intervention viticulture and remarkable diurnal temperature shifts.
Type: Medium to Full-Bodied Red (Sustainable / Low-Intervention)
Region: DO Navarra (Yerri Valley), Spain
Grapes: ~40% Tempranillo, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot
Alcohol ABV: 14%
Tasting Profile and Key Notes
Aroma: Lifted bramble berries, dried blueberries, balsamic herbs, licorice, wild thyme, and cooler notes of fresh mint.
Palate: Deeply layered but remarkably light on its feet; a core of mature red and black currants is balanced by sharp mountain acidity, clean mineral grip, and fine-grained, smooth tannins.
Winemaking
The hand-picked fruit undergoes a highly controlled, slow fermentation at 30°C using manual pigeage (punch-downs) for extraction, completely eliminating the use of harsh mechanical pumps. Following skin contact, the wine is racked entirely by gravity into subterranean concrete vats to complete spontaneous malolactic fermentation. It is then aged on its fine lees inside the concrete vats for a extensive period, avoiding oak barrels entirely to preserve the microclimate’s raw mineral signature.
Farming
Winemaker Alicia Eyaralar practices sustainable, dry farming on old estate vines tucked into the rugged Yerri Valley, which is heavily influenced by cool Atlantic weather systems. The vines are rooted in deep clay-loam soils that preserve moisture naturally, allowing the plants to survive dry Iberian summers without irrigation. This high-altitude, cold mountain macroclimate forces a slow, prolonged ripening cycle, yielding grapes with small berries, thick skins, and remarkably high natural acidity.