Gonzalo Celayeta

Gonzalo Celayeta is a biologist and oenologist from Olite, third generation of a wine-growing family in the Baja Montaña zone of Navarra. He studied oenology in Logroño and spent four years at EVENA — Navarra's official viticulture and oenology research station — before launching his personal project in 2004. Since 2006 he has also been Technical Director of Bodegas San Martín, the cooperative of San Martín de Unx founded in 1914 and one of the driving forces behind the revival of Garnacha as a serious terroir variety in Navarra.

The 9 hectares are spread across San Martín de Unx and Olite at between 400 and 600 metres altitude, on clay-limestone soils surrounded by aromatic scrubland — thyme, lavender and rosemary — vegetation that Celayeta considers part of the terroir and that shows directly in the herbal character of his wines. The main variety is Garnacha Tinta, alongside Garnacha Blanca, Viura and Chardonnay. Every wine is named after someone close to him: La Huella de Aitana ("Aitana's Footprint") is named after his eldest daughter, born in 2011, the year of the first harvest; the "A" on the label was drawn by Aitana herself. Cuvée Zen is the aged version of the same rosado — 85% Garnacha Tinta, 15% Garnacha Blanca — fermented and matured first eight months in barrel and then ten months in a clay amphora (tinaja), with a production of 1,500 bottles; the Peñín Guide awards it 91–92 points and Decanter has also reviewed it. El Piano is the red wine in the range, 100% Garnacha from vines at 600 metres, aged in very old American oak: the piano, says Celayeta, is the instrument his wife plays, and a wine — like music — transmits the character of whoever makes it.