Torre de Oña

In 1985, a businessman from Cuba bought fifteen hectares of vineyards in Páganos (Laguardia). He had a nose for it; today it is still known as the most sought-after land in the Rioja Alavesa, the Basque part of the Rioja wine region. The best purchase of his life was followed ten years later by the best sale of his life. Torre de Oña, which had grown to 45 hectares in 1995, was bought by none other than La Rioja Alta. A worthy successor with an impressive history.

Towering ambitions
La Rioja Alta made a number of changes. The 2% planted Cabernet Sauvignon was removed and new vineyards were purchased around Finca San Martín. In 2005, the talented Julio Sáenz was appointed oenologist, and that same year he introduced a new approach. Each individual plot is now vinified and matured separately, so that more and more knowledge is available about the qualities of the individual plots of land. With this knowledge, only the grapes that meet the strictest requirements are selected, and Torre de Oña has raised the bar considerably. The wood maturation has also been given an extra dimension; in addition to French and American oak, oak from the Caucasus is now also partly used.

A praised terroir
The aim of Torre de Oña is to let the terroir speak. The typical limestone/clay soil of these vineyards produces small bunches of loose grapes, resulting in a concentrated, aromatic must with a lot of complexity. (Inter)national wine critics such as Robert Parker and José Peñin crown the results with consistent scores above 90 points.