Why it matters
The producer
The Lozano-Melero family have been farming vines in southern Navarra across several generations. Their bodega sits in Castejón de Ebro, a town in the Ribera del Ebro, the broad southern corridor of Navarra where the Ebro river valley opens out and the climate shifts toward heat and dry Mediterranean air. What sets the place apart from any number of family wineries in the region is the building: a flour mill raised around 1900, once the largest of its kind in northern Spain, later pressed into service as a prison during the Spanish Civil War. The Lozano-Melero family converted it into a winery, and the building has since been catalogued as local heritage. White storks now nest on the roof in numbers reported to be the highest concentration in the area.
The bodega holds EU organic certification. The winery produces wines from the family's own selected grapes. Oak ageing uses new French and American barrels. The vermouth, Vermut Montecierzo, was awarded 91/100 by the Guía Peñín, an unusual score for an aromatised wine from a Navarra producer.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Navarra is a large autonomous community in northern Spain, stretching from the Pyrenees in the north down to the Ebro valley in the south. The Ribera del Ebro is the southern zone, where altitude drops, temperatures climb, and the Atlantic influence that shapes the north of the region fades entirely. Castejón de Ebro sits within this warmer band. Garnacha and Merlot are well-suited to the conditions: both ripen reliably in heat, and Garnacha in particular has deep historical roots in Navarra, where it was the dominant red grape long before international varieties arrived. Chardonnay and Moscatel Grano Menudo appear in the white range, the latter an aromatic variety with small berries that concentrate perfume and natural sugar. The label wording on the single-varietal author wines names the grape directly: 100% Garnacha and 100% Merlot, which positions them as varietal statements rather than blended appellations.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The organic certification applies to both vineyard and production. In the cellar, reds are aged in new French and American oak barrels. New oak at the Roble, Crianza, and Reserva levels adds vanilla, toast, and wood spice, with the degree of integration depending on time in barrel. The Roble spends six months in wood, giving it a lighter oak footprint than the Crianza or Reserva, which follow the longer ageing requirements of those classifications under Navarra rules. The two author wines, vinified from single varieties, receive separate cellar treatment suited to their grapes. White wines include a Chardonnay produced both with and without barrel fermentation; the barrel-fermented version picks up texture and weight from contact with new wood, while the unoaked version keeps the fresher, more direct character of the grape. Moscatel Grano Menudo, the small-berried aromatic variety, is handled to preserve its natural perfume and sweetness.
Wines to know
The range in view
The red range builds from the six-month Roble at the entry level through Crianza and Reserva, each carrying longer oak and bottle ageing requirements under Navarra's DO rules. Above those sit two Vinos de Autor: one 100% Garnacha and one 100% Merlot, both single-varietal and positioned as more individual expressions outside the standard classification ladder. Garnacha at this latitude tends toward ripe red fruit, low natural acidity, and a rounded, fleshy mid-palate; in new oak it gains spice and body. Merlot in warm southern Navarra tends toward plum and dark fruit, with the oak ageing adding firmness to a grape that can otherwise feel soft. The white range offers three distinct styles: unoaked Chardonnay with the fresh, direct character of the variety without wood overlay; barrel-fermented Chardonnay with added weight, texture, and creaminess from the oak; and Moscatel Grano Menudo, aromatic and floral with the natural richness that small-berried Moscatel produces. Completing the range, Vermut Montecierzo is an aromatised wine that earned 91/100 from the Guía Peñín, a score that places it clearly above the regional average for that category.