Torre de Oña El Camino Rioja Alavesa 2021
£121.25
The wine
A beautifully finessed Rioja Alavesa with beguiling aromatics of red berries, wild herbs, violet and a hint of liquorice. The palate is poised and seamless, with a bright line of acidity and finely etched tannins. There is intensity here, but a levity and lift that speaks of Burgundian elegance.
El Camino refers to the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, which passes close to the estate at Paganos. The wine is made in a fresher, less oak-driven style than the Finca bottlings, showing the chalky clay and altitude of Rioja Alavesa with the barrel kept firmly in the background.
The producer
Torre de Oña
View all Torre de Oña winesTorre de Ona lies at Paganos in Rioja Alavesa and was acquired by La Rioja Alta in 1995. The estate farms around forty hectares in a single block around the winery, which is unusual in a region where holdings are typically scattered.
Rioja Alavesa is the coolest and highest of Rioja's three sub-regions, sitting in the lee of the Sierra de Cantabria on chalky clay soils. The mountains shelter it from Atlantic weather while the altitude keeps nights cold, and the combination gives wines of finer tannin and greater perfume than the warmer zones to the east. Many consider it the finest raw material in Rioja.
The estate follows La Rioja Alta's methods, with long ageing and hand racking, but bottles by parcel rather than blending across the region. Finca Martelo and Finca San Martin are named plots, and El Camino refers to the pilgrim route to Santiago that passes close by.
