Masusta, Garnacha, Navarra, Spain (bottle price £20)

This was on the wine list for a restaurant who wanted to change their selections up and so we had a few cases left over.

Here are the deets:

Although there are significant historical differences, Navarra is effectively a north-eastern extension of Rioja, and is centred on the great bull-fighting town of Pamplona. Like Rioja, it benefited from Bordeaux's misfortunes in the late 19th century.

The star of the show in Navarra is the Garnacha grape. Garnacha is actually the second most-planted red-wine grape variety in Spain, surpassed only by its modern blending partner Tempranillo. It is grown in almost every area of Spain, but most notably in the north and east – it is the key constituent in the prestigious wines of Priorat. The arrival of the grapevine pest phylloxera to the Iberian Peninsula in the 19th Century brought unexpected benefits to Garnacha.

We think Navarra much like many Spanish regions has a bright future ahead of it due to the technology and investment being put into the region. We are always on the lookout for wines from this region and we think this is a cracking representation of the grape. Masusta comes from a 60-year-old vineyard in the area of Carcar (high bank of Navarra) whose landscape captivated its legendary winemaker Luis Moya. After working several years in a cooperative in the area, Luis decided to make this his first wine. Masusta, sits in the Basque and takes its name from the huge bramble that is in the middle of the vineyard. It’s rich and is one of those wines that keeps on rolling with flavour medium bodied and a pleasure to sip on.