CVNE (Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana), an iconic name in Rioja, established Contino in the 1970s as the first Rioja winery to use only estate-grown fruit. Like the other Riojas on our list, Contino is in the high-altitude Alavesa area, a hotspot for cool-tempered wines. Their reserva has the extended bottle aging of traditional Rioja, but with a winemaking approach that gives a fresher character and subtler cedar and spice accents from French oak (no heavy coconut/vanilla here). Medium-bodied and juicy, but with a generous texture, those subtler oak spice accents join dark-toned red fruits like cherry and boysenberry, floral and herbal touches (violet, tobacco) and the Alavesa area's famous wash of minerality that emerges to ground the wine in the finish. Delicious now! 86% Tempranillo, 6% Graciano, 6% Carignan & 2% Garnacha. Practicing organic farming.
JAMES SUCKLING 95 POINTS - "Black cherries with cedar and dried flowers, as well as dusty earth. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins that are long and polished. Lots of structure. Very typical and focused."
WINE ENTHUSIAST 95 POINTS - "This deep-ruby-colored wine has a bouquet of black cherry, clove and butterscotch. It is surprisingly soft on the palate, with filigree tannins and flavors of ripe summer cherry, blackberry, milk chocolate, fennel bulb and violet. — Mike DeSimone"
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "I tasted two vintages of the estate red that represents the blend and the character of the place. The 2018 Reserva comes from a cooler year and is a blend of 86% Tempranillo, 6% Mazuelo, 6% Graciano and 2% Garnacha with 14.12% alcohol and a pH of 3.48. The grapes ripened thoroughly and the wine is tasty but has a vibrant palate with freshness and depth. It has a classical nose and is complex and spicy with an earthy touch, a little developed and with fine-grained tannins. Very tasty. It spent 18 months in oak barrels, 90% of them French and 10% American; they are reducing the amount of American oak in this wine. 290,998 bottles and 3,500 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2021." - Luis Gutierrez
JAMES SUCKLING 95 POINTS - "Black cherries with cedar and dried flowers, as well as dusty earth. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins that are long and polished. Lots of structure. Very typical and focused."
WINE ENTHUSIAST 95 POINTS - "This deep-ruby-colored wine has a bouquet of black cherry, clove and butterscotch. It is surprisingly soft on the palate, with filigree tannins and flavors of ripe summer cherry, blackberry, milk chocolate, fennel bulb and violet. — Mike DeSimone"
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "I tasted two vintages of the estate red that represents the blend and the character of the place. The 2018 Reserva comes from a cooler year and is a blend of 86% Tempranillo, 6% Mazuelo, 6% Graciano and 2% Garnacha with 14.12% alcohol and a pH of 3.48. The grapes ripened thoroughly and the wine is tasty but has a vibrant palate with freshness and depth. It has a classical nose and is complex and spicy with an earthy touch, a little developed and with fine-grained tannins. Very tasty. It spent 18 months in oak barrels, 90% of them French and 10% American; they are reducing the amount of American oak in this wine. 290,998 bottles and 3,500 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2021." - Luis Gutierrez
