Finca Martelo Reserva 2016

The 2016 Finca Martelo comes from one of the longest harvests in their history. It's a blend of Tempranillo with 6% other varieties, Mazuelo, Garnacha and even white Viura intermixed in the field with a south-facing slope on very white soils. The grapes were hand picked, destemmed and crushed, then put through a seven-day cold soak before fermenting (uncrushed) in stainless steel followed by malolactic that took 98 days. The wine matured in used oak barrels, 80% American and 20% French, for 24 months with four traditional rackings. This wine has a separate winery with smaller vats for each of the plots, and the wine was kept in vat for a further six months before it was bottled in June 2020. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.57. It has a lively and young color and a very expressive nose (the cold soak and the semi-carbonic maceration), and there is a strong spiciness despite the fact they never use any new oak. It's mellow and round, with glossy tannins and a very gentle mouthfeel, with good complexity and those chalky tannins. This is a young and more modern wine than the range from la Rioja Alta. This is a wine that was developed between 2005 and 2012, and they saw the mix of barrels worked better than a single origin. 80,000 bottles produced.

Aromas of ripe dark fruit, walnuts, currant bush and bark. Medium-to full-bodied with creamy tannins and bright acidity. Polished and silky with mellow fruit character and a fresh, floral touch to it. Firm finish with notes of chocolate. Drink or hold.

Finca Martelo uses fruit from the oldest vines at Torre de Oña and is a blend of Tempranillo with 5% Mazuelo. Sweetly wooded in American and 20% French oak, it's sweet, chalky and textured with the elegance of the 2016 vintage and a balsamic lift. 2022-26