Why it matters
The producer
Bodegas y Viñedos Martinez Corta is a family estate in Uruñuela, a working wine village in the Rioja Alta subzone of northern Spain. The family has grown grapes in this part of the Ebro valley since the late nineteenth century. For most of that time they sold the fruit. At some point in the mid-twentieth century, a generation made a different decision: they would make and bottle the wine themselves. The modern winery, with its octagonal floor plan, went up around 2005. The range is built on Tempranillo, supported by Garnacha, and the Crianza is the bottle that most clearly represents what the estate is doing.
Four generations of rootedness in one valley produces a particular kind of wine business: deep familiarity with the land, no need to prove anything quickly, and a range that follows the Rioja ladder without apology. Martinez Corta does not make a complicated argument. It makes honest Rioja Alta red wine from two grapes that belong here.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Uruñuela sits in the Rioja Alta subzone, the western section of DOCa Rioja, between the Ebro river to the north and the Najerilla river to the south. This is where the appellation's Atlantic and Mediterranean influences arrive together. Moisture comes in from the northwest, off the Cantabrian mountains, keeping annual rainfall above 400 millimetres and moderating summer heat. From the southeast, Mediterranean warmth lengthens the growing season and pushes Tempranillo toward full ripeness without losing freshness.
For Tempranillo, that balance matters on the label. Rioja Alta grapes tend toward more acidity and firmer fruit than those from the warmer Rioja Baja. Bottles from this zone often age more gracefully and carry more mid-palate lift than their eastern counterparts. The Crianza tier, which requires minimum ageing before release, is one of the clearest expressions of what this climate can deliver: ripe enough to be approachable young, firm enough to reward patience.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The estate grows Tempranillo as its primary grape, with Garnacha as a secondary variety. Both are well-suited to Rioja Alta's climate: Tempranillo delivers the spine of the red fruit, spice, and body that defines the appellation's classic profile, while Garnacha adds warmth and roundness where the blend needs it.
The Crianza bottling follows DOCa Rioja law: a minimum of one year in oak barrel and one year in bottle before release. This ageing minimum is what earns the Crianza designation on the label and is the regulation that separates it from the Joven tier. Oak contact at this level softens the tannin grain, adds vanilla and light toast to the mid-palate, and rounds the balsamic edge that Tempranillo often carries when young.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range follows the standard Rioja classification ladder. At the entry level, the Joven Cepas Antiguas is released without oak ageing, relying entirely on fruit character. The name references old vines, though no further detail on vine age is confirmed. It is the most immediate expression of the estate's Tempranillo.
The Crianza is the anchor bottle: a red wine led by Tempranillo, oak-aged to the Rioja minimum, and released with measurably more depth and length than the Joven. The colour is deep red with a garnet rim. On the nose, red and dark fruit comes forward with floral and spicy notes, and a balsamic thread runs through the aromatic register, adding lift. The palate is savory and fresh, with clear fruit and spice, creamy mid-palate notes, vanilla, and subtle toasted oak integrated across the finish. The body is firm.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Martinez Corta Crianza. It is a Tempranillo-led red from Uruñuela in Rioja Alta, oak-aged to the Crianza minimum and released with the depth and integration that the appellation's most recognisable tier promises. Deep red in the glass, with red fruit, dark cherry, balsamic lift, vanilla, and light toast in the mid-palate. The body is firm without being heavy, and the acidity from the Atlantic-influenced climate keeps the finish fresh. It is the bottle where the family's decision to move from grape-growing into estate winemaking becomes legible: a wine made to the rules of a place they have known for four generations.