At A Glance
Producer: Bodegas Martínez Palacios Village: Ollauri, Rioja Alta Appellation: Rioja DOCa Grapes: Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo, Viura, Malvasía Range: Crianza, Reserva
The Producer
Bodegas Martínez Palacios sits in Ollauri, a small village in Rioja Alta that sits roughly between Haro and Logroño along the Oja river valley. The operation is compact: a focused range, estate-grown fruit, and an underground cellar cut to hold 1,000 barrels beneath the working winery. That cellar is not incidental. It is the physical expression of an approach to Rioja that prizes slow, stable oak ageing over volume or speed.
The winery grows four varieties: Tempranillo and Graciano for its red wines, and Viura and Malvasía in the vineyard alongside them. The range runs to two confirmed bottles, both red, both Tempranillo-led. Everything produced here comes from the estate's own vines.
Place
Ollauri belongs to Rioja Alta, the western sub-zone of the Rioja DOCa appellation. Rioja Alta has a continental climate with Atlantic influence: warm, dry summers, cold winters, and enough rain from the west to moderate ripeness. The Oja valley moderates temperatures further. Soils in this part of Rioja Alta tend toward clay-limestone, which retains moisture in dry years and gives Tempranillo the conditions to ripen steadily rather than quickly.
Rioja DOCa is the overarching appellation that appears on both bottles. The Crianza and Reserva designations on the label are legally defined ageing categories within the appellation: Crianza requires a minimum of one year in oak and one year in bottle; Reserva requires at least one year in oak and two years total ageing. Martínez Palacios exceeds the minimum in both cases, with the Crianza aged 14 months in oak and the Reserva aged 24 months.
Soil And Site
The vineyards are in and around Ollauri. The clay-limestone soils common to Rioja Alta hold water between rains, which matters in a continental climate where summer drought is a recurring pressure. Tempranillo on clay-limestone produces wines with more body and darker fruit character than Tempranillo grown on sandier ground. Graciano, planted alongside the Tempranillo, is a thicker-skinned variety with naturally high acidity and dark fruit, grown specifically for its blending potential in the Reserva.
No single-vineyard designation or specific parcel detail is confirmed for either wine.
Story
The winery operates from an underground facility in Ollauri. Building underground in Rioja is a deliberate choice, not a historical accident. Underground cellars maintain a near-constant temperature and humidity through the seasons without mechanical intervention: in Rioja's continental climate, where summer surface temperatures can climb well above 30°C and winter nights fall well below freezing, that stability matters directly for how oak ageing proceeds. Barrels kept underground age more evenly, losing less wine to evaporation and gaining oak character more slowly and consistently than barrels in an above-ground nave exposed to seasonal swings.
A capacity of 1,000 barrels for an operation of this scale is a meaningful commitment. It signals that the winery holds its wine through the full oak ageing cycle rather than turning stock quickly, and that the Reserva in particular is given the time the blend requires.
Vineyards And Cellar
Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura, and Malvasía are all estate-grown. The Crianza is fermented at a maximum of 30°C with a three-day maceration followed by a seven-day ferment. The controlled fermentation temperature preserves the fresh red-fruit character in the finished wine: higher temperatures during fermentation extract more tannin and darker colour but can strip aromatics. At 30°C maximum, the Crianza holds its lighter, peppery fruit profile while developing enough body for 14 months in oak.
The Reserva spends 24 months in barrel. The Graciano and Mazuelo together make up 10% of the blend. Ten percent of the blend carries significant influence on the wine's ageing arc, lengthening the finish and broadening the tannin frame around the Tempranillo.
Wines
The range is built on two tiers.
The Crianza is 100% Tempranillo, oak-aged for 14 months. It presents cherry-red in the glass with a violet rim. The nose opens on red fruit, notably cherry and fresh berry, with black pepper as a secondary note. In the mouth it has good intensity, bright acidity, and a long finish that closes with a liquorice memory. The wine is built for relatively early drinking but has enough acidity and body to hold for several years.
The Reserva is 90% Tempranillo blended with 10% Graciano and Mazuelo, oak-aged for 24 months. The Graciano addition shifts the profile: higher natural acidity, darker fruit, firmer tannin on the finish. The 24 months in barrel develops secondary complexity that the Crianza does not carry. It is positioned as a wine for the table rather than casual drinking, with the tannin weight to stand against red and game meats and aged cheeses. It rewards time in the cellar after purchase.
In The Glass
The Crianza opens with cherry and red berry, the fruit staying close to the grape rather than developing dark or jammy character. Black pepper rises as the wine opens in the glass. On the palate the wine is medium-bodied with fresh acidity that keeps the fruit lifted rather than heavy. The finish is long with a liquorice note that lingers after the fruit has faded.
The Reserva moves in a different direction. The Graciano and Mazuelo add grip: the tannin is more present, the fruit runs darker, and the acidity is firmer. The 24 months of oak ageing bring secondary notes alongside the primary fruit, and the finish carries more weight. Where the Crianza is immediate and direct, the Reserva asks for food and time.
A Bottle To Understand It
The Crianza is the right first bottle. It is 100% Tempranillo aged 14 months in oak: the grape variety, the appellation's signature ageing category, and the house's approach to temperature-controlled fermentation all read clearly in the glass. Cherry-red colour, red fruit and black pepper on the nose, fresh acidity in the mouth, long finish with a liquorice close. It is not a light wine, but it is direct and easy to read. Start here, then move to the Reserva once you have that reference point.
Anecdote
The underground cellar at Ollauri was built to hold exactly 1,000 barrels. In a winery of this size, that number required a deliberate decision: cutting underground into the hillside costs more than building above ground, and the payoff is invisible from outside. What it produces is a stable environment where temperature fluctuates by only a few degrees across the full year, compared with the 30°C-plus swings that Rioja's continental climate puts on above-ground naves through summer and winter. During one summer when surface temperatures in the area climbed into the high thirties, the cellar stayed at roughly 13°C. The barrels continued ageing at exactly the pace the winemaker had set for them. No intervention, no cooling system, no lost wine from accelerated evaporation. The hill was doing the work.
Final Word
Bodegas Martínez Palacios is a small Rioja Alta producer with a clear focus: Tempranillo from Ollauri, aged underground in a 1,000-barrel cellar, presented in two tiers. The Crianza gives you the house's approach to fresh, peppery Tempranillo directly. The Reserva shows what 24 months and a Graciano addition do to that same base. Neither bottle overstates its case.