Torre de Oña Finca San Martín Rioja Alavesa Crianza 2022
£15.95
The wine
Overflowing with wild red berried fruit, layered with chocolate, ground coffee, hints of forest floor and white pepper. Smooth and harmonious, with an elegant freshness that keeps the whole thing lifted.
Finca San Martin is a named plot, and Crianza requires two years of ageing with one in oak. Rioja Alavesa is the coolest and highest of the three sub-regions, sheltered by the Sierra de Cantabria on chalky clay, and gives finer tannin and more perfume than the warmer zones east.
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.
