Torre de Oña

Founded in 1987 by Leandro Vázquez in the hamlet of Páganos, a stone’s throw from Laguardia in the Rioja Alavesa, Torre de Oña now counts over three decades as a sterling exemplar of the new Rioja: a modest-sized, château-model estate growing 100% of its own grapes, all stamped by their unique origin, from field to bottle. In 1995 Vázquez sold 45 hectares of vineyards (some dating to the 1960s), the winery and the adjoining country house to La Rioja Alta S.A., the legendary classicist firm based in Haro, the heart of the Alta district further west.

That centenary company was able to invest significantly in soil studies, oak trials, and additional old-vine acquisitions, and since 2005 Julio Sáenz, the lionized head winemaker at La Rioja Alta itself, has been 100% responsible for the wines at Torre de Oña. His range begins with a dynamite Crianza, Finca San Martín, which marries attractive drinkability with surprising depths of Tempranillo fruit. Since 2014, he’s also produced an increasingly-heralded Reserva called Finca Martelo sourced from a parcel selection of the oldest vines out front the winery that include a dollop of non-Tempranillo varieties. There are rumors of something new and spectacular afoot from the estate’s very oldest centenary vines in neighboring Elvillar, but we’ll have to wait and see…

This is an estate in constant motion: since the mid-90s they’ve been refining the classic-meets-modern balance of the wines by moving away from French oak and towards American and Caucasian, including larger formats. No less important is adapting to a warming climate, both by acquiring old vineyards higher up the Sierra Cantabria in Elvillar and Kripan and making new replantings according to a unique contour-line-based regimen. All the while, they remain a prime source of true-to-type and terrific quality-for-money Alavesa Rioja.