2014 Martelo Rioja Reserva
Buying options
Tasting notes
Vivid ruby-red. An expressive bouquet evokes red and dark berry preserves, exotic spices and vanilla, and tobacco and potpourri qualities build with air. Supple and seamless on the palate, offering appealingly sweet cherry cola and black raspberry flavors, along with hints of mocha and candied rose. Fine-grained tannins add subtle grip to a long, lively finish that strongly echoes the floral note. Sourced from a two-hectare plot of vines and raised in new oak barrels, 80% French and 20% American.
Critic scores
Average Score
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Plenty of cedar, dark-chocolate and coffee character, but the dried strawberry and cherry character shows through. The tannins are quite pointed but soft and silky, just as the red fruit is quite elegant. A very interesting mix of Riojan craftsmanship and Burgundy style. Drink now.
This wine is released as Martelo in Spain but that be renamed as Finca Martelo in the international market. So, I tasted the 2014 again but this time labeled as 2014 Finca Martelo. The wine hasn't changed much since the last time I tasted it; it's aromatic and showy, with elegance and poise, nicely balanced and perfumed with a medium body and very fine tannins, intense flavors and a long finish. It's evolving very slowly, and I wouldn't be surprised if it made old bones. 80,000 bottles produced.
The 2014 Reserva is mostly Tempranillo with 5% Mazuelo from the plots Altos de Valecilla, Calvo, Martelo and Berzal around the winery in Paganos-La Guardia. The destemmed and crushed grapes underwent a ten-day cold soak and fermented in stainless steel. 80% of the volume matured in oak barrels for 18 months. I noticed quite a lot of oak, and winemaker Julio Saez said they used up to 40% new barrels. The wine comes through with strong toasty and smoky aromas and roasted coffee notes. The palate has abundant, chalky tannins that might need some more time in bottle and/or powerful food. 40,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in October 2016. Feb 2018, www.robertparker.com