Description
At Torre de Oña, not every harvest culminates in Torre de Oña Finca Martelo. Julio Sáenz, the house’s winemaker, personally selects the vintages and plots that will contribute to this Reserva, consistently seeking the same profile: prolonged and balanced ripening, freshness, and smooth tannins. From this emerges a wine crafted to precisely convey the character of the Rioja Alavesa.
Torre de Oña Finca Martelo is primarily composed of tempranillo, complemented by small amounts of mazuelo, graciano, garnacha, and viura. The grapes originate from the Martelo, Camino de la Iglesia, and Altos de Las Cuevas vineyards, located around the winery, and this vintage sees the first inclusion of grapes from the Viñedos Artesanales de Elvillar, where vines over 80 years old thrive on calcareous and loamy soils. At Torre de Oña, the vines exceed 60 years of age, are situated at approximately 630 metres altitude, and are arranged on north-south facing slopes.
The harvest of Torre de Oña Finca Martelo is conducted manually in 20 kg boxes, with the grapes being cooled to 4°C before entering the winery. Following meticulous optical sorting and a five-day cold soak at below 9°C, the grapes undergo a pre-fermentation cold maceration, allowing for enhanced aromatic and colour richness.
After alcoholic fermentation, Torre de Oña Finca Martelo completes malolactic fermentation over two months in new French and American oak barrels, with weekly battonage. This is followed by an ageing period of over a year, using 80% American oak and 20% French, during which four rackings are performed in accordance with traditional methods. Finally, the wine spends an additional six months in tank to harmonise the blend before bottling.
The result is a Reserva that prioritises elegance over power, with structure, depth, and an expression closely tied to the landscape of the DOCa Rioja. A wine of both plot and vintage, it illustrates why Finca Martelo only enters the market when the vineyard has something truly special to convey.
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