Contino Vina Del Olivo 2015
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Contino Viña del Olivo 2015 is crafted from 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano & 5% Mazuelo, sourced from the estate's historic Olivo vineyard. This wine undergoes fermentation in large French oak vats, followed by 18 months of ageing in a combination of French, American, and Hungarian oak barrels. It displays vibrant aromas of dark fruits and spices, with a balanced palate and a long, clear finish.
Contino, founded in 1973, was the first château-style winery in Rioja, created by CVNE together with the owners of a 62-hectare estate in Rioja Alavesa. The property dates back to the 16th century and takes its name from the contino, the officer who commanded a guard of one hundred soldiers protecting the Royal Family continuously from the time of the Catholic Monarchs.
According to tradition, Saint Gregory, the patron saint of vineyards, passed through these lands, inspiring his presence in the winery’s logo and the naming of several vineyard plots.
All wines are made exclusively from grapes grown in the vineyards surrounding the old manor house, harvested plot by plot with each origin carefully recorded. The combination of soils, an Atlantic–Mediterranean climate, and refined winemaking techniques has made Contino, more than 30 years after its first vintage, a benchmark wine. The 62 hectares of vineyards in Laserna, near Laguardia, are sheltered by the Cerro de la Mesa hill, which creates a distinctive orientation and mesoclimate.
Viña del Olivo aims to be the maximum expression of Contino’s terroir as it is one of the few calcareous clay estates in Contino (the others are primarily alluvial) with a very high content of active limestone, a 5 to 7% south-facing slope, dry land, no herbicides, and organic fertilisation. A mineral wine for ageing that expresses its modernity with harmony and balance.
Contino Viña del Olivo is produced from the best bunches of grapes hand-harvested from the Olivo vineyard (a 700-year-old vineyard). The grapes are carefully harvested in crates and sorted meticulously upon arrival at the winery. Next, the grapes are fermented in 100-hectolitre French oak vats at a temperature of 28-30ºC for ten days, after a further ten days of maceration. The grapes then undergo malolactic fermentation for 15 days in new French oak barrels (85%) and American & Hungarian oak barrels (15%). Finally, the wine is then aged for 17 months before being transferred to wooden vats for three months.
Technical Information:
Grape Varieties: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano & 5% Mazuelo
Ageing: 18 months in 70% French, 20% American & 10% Hungarian Oak Barrels
Alcohol: 14.00%
Production: 9,328 bottles
Tasting Note: Brilliant violet. Highly perfumed aromas of ripe dark fruits, potpourri and incense are complicated by exotic spice and woodsmoke nuances. Sweet, seamless and expansive on the palate, offering densely packed blackberry, cherry-vanilla and rose pastille flavors that are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Finishes sweet and impressively long, showing outstanding clarity and fine-grained tannins that blend smoothly with the wine's sappy fruit. - Tasted by Josh Reynolds
Contino, founded in 1973, was the first château-style winery in Rioja, created by CVNE together with the owners of a 62-hectare estate in Rioja Alavesa. The property dates back to the 16th century and takes its name from the contino, the officer who commanded a guard of one hundred soldiers protecting the Royal Family continuously from the time of the Catholic Monarchs.
According to tradition, Saint Gregory, the patron saint of vineyards, passed through these lands, inspiring his presence in the winery’s logo and the naming of several vineyard plots.
All wines are made exclusively from grapes grown in the vineyards surrounding the old manor house, harvested plot by plot with each origin carefully recorded. The combination of soils, an Atlantic–Mediterranean climate, and refined winemaking techniques has made Contino, more than 30 years after its first vintage, a benchmark wine. The 62 hectares of vineyards in Laserna, near Laguardia, are sheltered by the Cerro de la Mesa hill, which creates a distinctive orientation and mesoclimate.
Viña del Olivo aims to be the maximum expression of Contino’s terroir as it is one of the few calcareous clay estates in Contino (the others are primarily alluvial) with a very high content of active limestone, a 5 to 7% south-facing slope, dry land, no herbicides, and organic fertilisation. A mineral wine for ageing that expresses its modernity with harmony and balance.
Contino Viña del Olivo is produced from the best bunches of grapes hand-harvested from the Olivo vineyard (a 700-year-old vineyard). The grapes are carefully harvested in crates and sorted meticulously upon arrival at the winery. Next, the grapes are fermented in 100-hectolitre French oak vats at a temperature of 28-30ºC for ten days, after a further ten days of maceration. The grapes then undergo malolactic fermentation for 15 days in new French oak barrels (85%) and American & Hungarian oak barrels (15%). Finally, the wine is then aged for 17 months before being transferred to wooden vats for three months.
Technical Information:
Grape Varieties: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano & 5% Mazuelo
Ageing: 18 months in 70% French, 20% American & 10% Hungarian Oak Barrels
Alcohol: 14.00%
Production: 9,328 bottles
Tasting Note: Brilliant violet. Highly perfumed aromas of ripe dark fruits, potpourri and incense are complicated by exotic spice and woodsmoke nuances. Sweet, seamless and expansive on the palate, offering densely packed blackberry, cherry-vanilla and rose pastille flavors that are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Finishes sweet and impressively long, showing outstanding clarity and fine-grained tannins that blend smoothly with the wine's sappy fruit. - Tasted by Josh Reynolds
