Martán Wines is an exciting project commencing the journey producing my own artisan, singular wines focusing on traditional organic wine making on a garage scale. For many years I operated Valencian Cellars offering specialist vineyard / wine tasting experiences but I wished to craft my own wine and attain a greater understanding of terroir & enology. Early in 2022 I aquired a 1hct plot of Centenary Bobal bush vines; part of the lieu-dit “Cañada Pastora” in the parish of Casas de Eufemia, Requena.
These vineyards & wines have been chronicled since the 13thC Reconquest with evidence found of winemaking dating to the Iberians since 6thC BC. Partnering with a local bodega pertaining to five generations farming the land, we harvested my first bobal in Sept.´22. The vineyard is organically certified and have followed a minimal intervention approach; without irrigation nor chemicals/fertilisers, fermenting only with the grapes autoctonous yeasts with very low sulphite levels to protect the finished wines. The aim was to retain as much of the wines soul as possible from barrel to bottle!
The 2022 vintage produced very healthy grapes with almost no worries of mildew or other issues. Grown “en vaso” the free standing bush vines of low yield were hand harvested at dawn with selection into baskets for tractor transport to the bodega.
A second selection done prior to loading the small destemmer just breaking the skins lightly ..the smaller berries passing whole to the fermenter. Using a stainless steel vat with temperature control the grapes remained at under 10degc for approx. 36hrs with the temperature rising naturally to ferment using only the grapes own autoctonos yeasts. The wine was fermented fully dry at moderate temp. to preserve freshness with a further 8 days on the skins before racking, decant & transfer to French oak for malolactic fermentation.
I followed my own intuition and study on how this Bobal wine should be elaborated with some technical guidance from enologo. The suedo classic style is a unique wine with it´s own character and represents my hands own meticulous approach.
Two wines where produced; “Caña Pastorita” 7 months French oak & “Caña Pastora” 12 months French oak, a more robust wine with greater extraction. In total 8 x 225l barrels of varied tonnerelia & maceration add subtle character nuances to each wine!
Both wines are classified under DO Utiel-Requena
These are very much naturally produced wines that reflect the terroir, the weather and the winemaking skill in making the best of the materia prima. The wines have no manipulation or stabilisation prior to bottling & this makes a significant difference in taste of the final wine!
Minimal sulphites.. just enough to preserve the wine (below organic levels). They are also vegan friendly. FYI “Natural” wines rely solely on the wines own produced sulphites but this is not always successful, leading to wine spoilage & often sour funky flavours that are not for everyone!
The natural corks used are sourced locally from forests of the Sierra de Espadan Parque Natural, Castellon with a natural beeswax coating supporting local cork artisans & mediterranean oak forest. Labels feature the Irish Martán family crest design logo branding my wines.
The 2023 vintage was more challenging due to low rainfall and a hot summer so by picking earlier produced a fresher, finer style of wine of moderate alcohol but was elegantly balanced in barrel tastings. These Bobal red wines are now bottled and maturing for release late 2025.
Purchase Directly. Contact us, sales@martanwines.com , shipping available!
Caña Pastorita & Caña Pastora are now available to taste/purchase and will improve further in bottle.By purchasing Martán Bobal wines you are helping preserve the old vines of the landscape & local farming traditions !
Please ask for availability & tour options/prices as can be tailor made for you.