Rioja Contador 2016 – Benjamin Romeo Bodega Contador

To produce the Rioja Contador Benjamin Romeo Bodega Contador, the harvest is done by hand and the grapes arrive at the winery in under 30 minutes so that the grapes do not lose any quality. Once in the winery, the grapes are subjected to a double selection process. Firstly they select the best bunches, and after de-stemming them, they finish the selection by picking the best grapes from the best bunches. The new French oak barrels where Contador undergoes an aging for 18 months, are made from the best oak that Benjamín personally chooses. It is an exclusive wine, unique, special and they only release 5000 bottles onto the market.

The grapes come from small plots owned by the winery, distributed in various towns in the Rioja Alavesa area: San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Briones, Ábalos and Labastida. Different soils, micro climates, locations and altitudes that allow us to experience a great wine. Very complex and rich with nuances, Contador is an expression of purity and sincerity of the earth.

From humble beginnings making wine in his family garage and maturing his first wine Cueva de Contador in an ancient cave, Benjamin Romeo has quickly become one of Rioja’s most impressive winemakers. Despite only founding Bodega Contador in 1995, over the past couple of decades Romeo has achieved every winemaker’s ultimate dream not once but twice: his 2004 and 2005 Contador wines received perfect 100 point scores from legendary American wine critic Robert Parker. Thanks to these successes Romeo was able to further expand his operation and in 2008 he built a state-of-the-art winery designed by Hector Herrera in the charming village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. Here he uses a thoroughly modern winemaking approach to craft elegant yet powerful Riojas which speak eloquently of the terroir. Romeo carefully vinifies the grapes from 62 individual vineyard sites separately and ages the young wines in new French oak for up to 20 months. Romeo’s flagship wine is the Contador which is crafted from the finest fruit of each vintage and aged in oak for 18-20 months.