2011 Contador, Rioja, Spain

2011 Contador, Rioja, Spain

Product: 20118030045
Prices start from £1,299.00 per case Buying options
2011 Contador, Rioja, Spain

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

The jewel in the crown of this remarkable estate. This outstanding Rioja shows the full potential of the Tempranillo grape, with a tiny amount of Garnacha, for flesh and meatiness. A soaring nose of perfume, strawberries, raspberries and vanilla, combined perfectly with tilled earth, roasted meats and cinnamon. The palate has exceptional power, yet perfect poise, which is always the sign of a great wine: layers and layers of fruit develop on the palate, which is at the same time spicy and savoury. Eventually the soft, smooth weight gives way to an ethereal, fine, yet driven finish of bright acidity, fine tannins and delicate flavours of rosemary and red fruits. 
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer

Following on from the huge success of the 2012 Spanish Gold offer, the team at Berry Bros. & Rudd knew that we would have to find some truly outstanding new wines to better the offer in 2013. Fortunately we have done just that and are very proud to present our latest, major Rioja producer, Bodega Contador. The property was founded as recently as 1995, but the fact that it has become one of Rioja’s most respected wineries in such a relatively short time, is testament to its superb terroir and the brilliant wine making skill of proprietor Benjamin Romeo. Starting off with an awe inspiring cellar hewn into the rock beneath the Castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, finding extra space in his parents’ garage, where he crafted the stunning 2004 and 2005 vintages, which both received 100 points from the Wine Advocate. In 2008 Benjamin completed his new, state of the art winery, built into the hills of Rioja surrounded by his vineyards. Benjamin’s wine making is relatively modern, with individual vineyard plots farmed to very small yields and vinified separately, before ageing for a comparatively short 18-20 months in new French oak (as opposed to the traditional American oak). The results are extraordinary.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate96/100
The 2011 Contador is a compact, tight-knit wine, serious and backward that needs plenty of air. It's still a baby showing the typical aromas that only the very best barrels can give and that you only find in a very few top wines (and I'm thinking of Pingus here). However, the personality is quite different, akin to a young Nuits-St-Georges, with very fine tannins and subtle acidity. I feel the wine needs a couple of years in the bottle. Drink 2016-2022.
Luis Gutirrez - 30/12/2013 Read more

About this WINE

Bodega Contador

Bodega Contador

Bodega Contador was founded as recently as 1995, but the fact that it has become one of Rioja’s most respected wineries in such a relatively short time is testament to its superb terroir and the brilliant winemaking skill of proprietor Benjamin Romeo. Starting off with an awe-inspiring cellar hewn into the rock beneath the Castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, finding extra space in his parents’ garage, where he crafted the stunning 2004 and 2005 vintages, which both received 100 points from the Wine Advocate.

In 2008 Benjamin completed his new, state-of-the-art winery, built into the hills of Rioja surrounded by his vineyards. Benjamin’s wine making is relatively modern, with individual vineyard plots farmed to very small yields and vinified separately, before ageing for a comparatively short 18-20 months in new French oak (as opposed to the traditional American oak). The results are extraordinary.

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Rioja

Rioja

Rioja is known primarily for its reds although it also makes white wines from the Viura and Malvasia grapes and rosés mainly from Garnacha. Most wineries (bodegas) have their own distinct red wine formula, but are normally a combination of Tempranillo, Garnacha and sometimes Graciano. Other red varieties recently approved into the Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) regulations are the little-known Maturana Tinta, Maturana Parda, and Monastel (not to be confused with Monastrell). The most important of these by far is the king of native Spanish varieties, Tempranillo, which imbues the wines with complex and concentrated fruit flavours.

The Garnacha, meanwhile, bestows its wines with warm, ripe fruit and adds an alcohol punch. Graciano is an améliorateur grape (one that is added, often in small proportions, to add a little something to the final blend) and is found mainly in Reserva and Gran Reserva wines, albeit in small quantities (two to five percent), adding freshness and aroma, and enhancing the wines' ageing potential.

Crianza wines are aged for one year in oak followed by maturation for one year in bottle before being released for sale. Reservas must undergo a minimum of three years’ ageing before release, at least one of which should be in oak casks. Finally, Gran Reservas, which are only produced in the finest vintages, must spend at least five years maturing, of which at least two must be in oak.

Geographically, Rioja is divided in to three districts: Alavesa, Alta and Baja. Rioja Alavesa lies in the northwest of the La Rioja region in the Basque province of Álava. Along with Rioja Alta, it is the heartland of the Tempranillo grape. Rioja Alta, to the north-west and south of the Ebro River in the province of La Rioja, stretches as far as the city of Logroño. Elegance and poise is the hallmark of wines made here with Rioja Alta Tempranillo. Mazuelo (Carignan) is occasionally added to wines from this area to provide tannins and colour. Rioja Baja, located to the south-east, is the hottest of the three districts and specialises in Garnacha.

Rioja has witnessed a broad stylistic evolution over the years. The classic Riojas pioneered by Murrieta and Riscal in the 19thcentury were distinguished by long oak-barrel-ageing whereas the modern style, represented by Marqués de Cáceres since 1970, showcases the fruit and freshness of Tempranillo, keeping oak ageing to the legal minimum. The post-modern school that emerged in the late 1990s from producers like Palacios Remondo and Finca Allende concentrate on making wines from old vines or specific vineyard plots to accentuate the terroir, and using larger proportions of minority varietals such as Graciano.

The alta expression wines, pioneered by Finca Allende (among others) and later taken up by almost every other producer in Rioja, represent the newest flagship category in Rioja. Alongside the traditional Gran Reservas, alta expression wines are limited production and come from low-yielding vines, often from a single vineyard, and are hand-picked. Excellent examples of this style are Artadi's Pagos Viejos and El Pison.

However, modernisation has not held back the continuation of successful traditional styles as well. Happily long-established houses such La Rioja Alta, CVNE and Marques de Vargas continue to make graceful, old style wines better than ever before.

White Rioja is typically produced by the Viura grape which must comprise at least 51 percent of the blend; the rest can be made up by other, recently-authorised varieties, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Verdejo, as well as the native Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, and Turruntés (not to be mistaken for Torrontés).

Recommended Producers:
Finca Allende, Amezola de la Mora, Artadi, CVNE, Marqués de Vargas, Palacios Remondo, La Rioja Alta, Murrieta.

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Tempranillo/Tinto Fino

Tempranillo/Tinto Fino

A high quality red wine grape that is grown all over Spain except in the hot South - it is known as Tinto Fino in Ribera del Duero, Cencibel in La Mancha and Valdepenas and Ull de Llebre in Catalonia. Its spiritual home is in Rioja and Navarra where it constitutes around 70% of most red blends.

Tempranillo-based wines tend to have a spicy, herbal, tobacco-like character accompanied by ripe strawberry and red cherry fruits. It produces fresh, vibrantly fruit driven "jovenes" meant for drinking young. However Tempranillo really comes into its own when oak aged, as with the top Riojas  where its flavours seem to harmonise perfectly with both French and American oak, producing rich, powerful and concentrated wines which can be extraordinarily long-lived.

In Ribera del Duero it generally sees less oak - the exception being Vega Sicilia where it is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and then aged for an astonishing 7 years in oak and is unquestionably one of the world`s greatest wines.

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