Contino, Garnacha, Rioja

Non-Reserva Rioja at this sort of price has to be seriously special, right?

Well, that's the thing. This is sensational wine, amazing Rioja and a fantastic exponent of the Grenache grape variety, so we're all in great hands.

Flavours of ripe red and black fruit, plums and balsamic-laced wooden barrels, with herbal notes and a delicious sweet mid-palate and sumptuous mouth-feel. It is mad to think that this isn't a Reserva, given the quality, but also refreshing to come across a wine that is this good, which doesn't have to conform to the DOCa ageing requirements to produce a smashing glass of wine.

Silky, medium levels of fine tannins and a long finish, there is enough spice to let you know that it's Grenache, with really wonderful ripeness and structure that seems to ooze out of the single vineyard that is Contino. Creamy in texture and with serious depth and spice, it is a wine that will make you open  your heart to Grenache (again!) and focus your gaze to really fine Rioja.

Made from three distinct plots from within the vineyard's grand sweep to the Ebro river, the grapes undergo a strict triage in the vineyard and again at the winery, as this project is not concerned with volume but quality; and this is what they are trying to maintain: a serious Grenache that is representative of the Contino style.

Viñedos del Contino was founded in 1973, becoming the first "Chateau" concept in Rioja. The rural farmhouse and its buildings in Laserna, Laguardia, are surrounded by 62 hectares of Rioja Alavesa vineyards from which all its grapes are sourced, at a bend in the river Ebro.

The soils are remarkably stony and are full of large, flat and round stones much like the soils in Chateauneuf du Pape, which is really interesting, because the wines bear a fascinating similarity to that same famed French appellation. It's this single site and the unique quality in which it is situated that made the owners think outside the box to form this single-site concept.

With cave-like cellars dating from the 16th century, these are some of the oldest wine-related buildings in Rioja. It's that romantic ideal of old-meets-new with modern approaches to ancient land.

The history of the house also dates back to the 16th century and is reflected in the  name. The farm was home to an officer in charge of the one hundred soldiers who continuously guarded the royal family (‘de contino’ in Spanish). 

The process here is, well, meticulous. Grapes are grown and managed in micro-vineyard plots within the one, greater vineyard area. Old Tempranillo, ancient Garnacha (grenache) is grown alongside Rioja's least-grown but increasingly admired red vairiety, Graciano.

The winery even make a 100% Graciano, which is sensationally good. One of the vineyard plots is called Vina del Olivo, because it is a walled 'clos' in which is situated a vast olive tree that is estimated to be over a thousand years old, predating all of the winemaking history in one swoop!

2019 was widely regarded as a stunning vintage, marked by low rainfall, with a shower at the end of May that kept the clusters loose and open: conditions that are perfect for old-vines Grenache. The wine begins life in French oak vats for a pre-ferment soak before spontaneous fermentation. The ageing is carried out in a very interesting combination of a huge Stockinger barrel and second and third use 400 and 500 litre French hogsheads, for 17 months and then finishing with one month in concrete tanks for structural stabilisation.

Fascinating and nerdy and completely delicious!

98 points, Guiá de Vinos Gourmets