Contino Vina Del Olivo 2016
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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: 90% Tempranillo & 10% Graciano
Ageing: 17 months in 85% French and 15% American & Hungarian oak barrels
Alcohol: 14.00%
Tasting Note: Powerful, deeply perfumed aromas of ripe dark berries, cherry liqueur, potpourri and incense, along with oak spice, vanilla and woodsmoke nuances. Sweet and palate-coating, offering densely packed but vibrant black raspberry, cherry-vanilla and floral pastille flavors energized by a core of juicy acidity and a suggestion of exotic spices. Finishes sweet and impressively long, showing outstanding clarity and youthful tannins that add solid grip to the sappy, lingering fruit. - Tasted by Josh Reynolds
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: 90% Tempranillo & 10% Graciano
Ageing: 17 months in 85% French and 15% American & Hungarian oak barrels
Alcohol: 14.00%
Tasting Note: Powerful, deeply perfumed aromas of ripe dark berries, cherry liqueur, potpourri and incense, along with oak spice, vanilla and woodsmoke nuances. Sweet and palate-coating, offering densely packed but vibrant black raspberry, cherry-vanilla and floral pastille flavors energized by a core of juicy acidity and a suggestion of exotic spices. Finishes sweet and impressively long, showing outstanding clarity and youthful tannins that add solid grip to the sappy, lingering fruit. - Tasted by Josh Reynolds
