April 2025 Crianza Club
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Martinez Corta 2019 CrianzaRegular Price: $23.99
Club Price: $20.39
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At the end of the 19th century, due to growing agricultural concerns, there was a wave of migrants that crossed the Sierra Cantabria mountain range to settle in the La Rioja region in the hope of better prospects. Among these travelers there was a woman named Catalina Martínez, who settled in the town of Uruñuela, located in the now prestigious Rioja Alta subregion. Initially, she set up shop as a butcher, or ‘cortador’ as it was called back then.
While the butcher shop soon rose to local fame, Uruñuela was quite literally surrounded by vineyards and Martínez soon purchased vines to try her own hand at winemaking. This endeavor grew to rival the size and prestige of the meat cutting operation, and soon even more vineyard land was purchased to expand production capabilities. Four generations of family-run management later, Catalina's last name remained to represent the enterprise and ‘cortador’, being tacked on as ‘Corta’, was added as an acknowledgement of the establishment’s humble beginnings. Thus Martínez Corta was born.
There is a comfort for us when we try Spanish wines from old, family-run establishments. If they have been around since the late 1800’s, surely they must be doing something right. The Martínez Corta estate represents around 80 hectares of vineyard plots tucked between the Erbo and Najerilla rivers, with some vines showing over 100 years of age. The soils are largely calcareous and clay-rich, with most showing a southern exposure, meaning the estate sloped downward toward the south, maximizing sunlight in the growing season. All of these factors are a recipe for producing very plush, high quality wines. The soil composition means that water can retain quite well, but lack of nutrients force the vine to make smaller, more concentrated clusters. The southern exposure ensures maximum ripeness is achieved.
The Crianza we’ve selected for this month's wine club walks a fine line between plush, juicy fruit character and intriguingly nuanced elegance. 100% Tempranillo, the wine is aged for 12 months in a blend of American and French Oak, before seeing another 6 months to age in the bottle. The wine presents a bright ruby with flecks of violet. Ripe black and red berries make up the core of the nose and palate. Toasty wood and balsamic notes round out the taste while distinctly Tempranillo spice notes complete the finish. Soft, integrated tannins make this an ideal weeknight red, to be had with a range of dishes, or simply by itself. If you would like to take the pairing quite seriously, we’d recommend returning to the winery’s roots and enjoying their wine with roast lamb or pork, perhaps with savory herbs and spices, but most importantly simply prepared and high quality. Or, you can go for a little spread like the winery's own Facebook account suggests.
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Vinha da Foz 2021
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While drafting these blog posts, I’ve come to the realization that this month’s Crianza Club theme is old, tenderly cared for vineyard sites. Before we dive into the history of Quinta da Foz, we’d like to take a moment to emphasize to our readers the significance of old vines and the effect of vine age has on the resultant wine. Like humans, grape vines tend to be unpredictable, energetic, and relatively uncomplicated in their youth. Vines of around 1-8 years of root age, tend to make wines that are juicy, simple, and linear. As the vine gets older, the plant no longer produces the numerous and plump fruit clusters of its youth, but rather makes fewer, smaller sized clusters. The flip side is that when a plant puts all of its energy into a smaller amount of grapes, the fruit often contains a much more complex personality, showing both nuance and varietal character. From a vineyard management standpoint, this becomes a tricky balancing act. Old vines tend to make better wines, but in much smaller quantities. Alternatively, a vineyard manager could host much younger vines, but make a juicier, less nuanced wine in larger quantities. That being said, our ears always perk up when a supplier tells us a wine comes from an estate that averages over 80+ years of vineyard age. It’s simply a great indicator that the viticulture and enology of the estate is really a labor of love.
Such was the case when we got to try the flagship red from Quinta da Foz. While this is one of their more widely-produced table wine wines, its freshness and quiet charisma struck us as punching well above its price point. While researching da Foz, we thought we’d share the opening line used for describing their estate on their website:
“The Quinta da Foz consists of 22 ha, of old vines and olive trees, with an average age above 80 years old, planted in schist soils, with a maximum height of 250m in altitude.”
Image courtesy Vinha Da Foz
In 2014, Dão winemaker Filipe Ferreira purchased the estate in hope to marry his passion for Dão nuance with the power and reverence of Douro grapes. The blend in the Vinha da Foz is composed of 60% Touriga Nacional, 25% Tinta Roriz, and 15% Touriga Franca, all traditional grapes to the Douro. Dark plumb notes intermingle with mulberry and fresh savory herbs. The tannins are plush, with a dusty earth finish. Enjoy with a fatty steak aside blue cheese or a compound butter drizzle.
