Winemaker Notes
Blend: 69% Tempranillo, 23% Graciano, 8% Mazuela
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A brilliant evolution in the Vina del Olivio character here, with energy and brightness, as well as focused and pure tannins. Medium- to full-bodied with fantastic length. Very structured. Like eating a perfectly ripe grape al dente. Needs three to four years to come around.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I love the youth and freshness of the 2020 Viña del Olivo, a blend of 69% Tempranillo, 23% Graciano and 8% Mazuelo that is even lower in alcohol than in 2020 (at 13.52%). It was harvested early but with full ripeness and higher acidity and more freshness. The wine feels very young and tender, with very integrated oak after 14 months in barrel and two months in oak vats. It's fragrant, floral and aromatic, juicy and fresh, with very fine tannins and a long finish. It has abundant fine-grained tannins and a dry, chalky finish from the limestone soils. This is one of the finest vintages of Olivo; there is a floral quality here that I loved and hadn't seen in previous vintages of this single-vineyard red.
Rating: 95+ -
Wine Spectator
An elegant red, with a pure beam of creamed black cherry laced with flattering, generous hints of star anise, violet, mocha and fig cake. Enticing and lightly mouthwatering, featuring fine, supple tannins and good focus, with the expressive profile bouncing from sweet to savory toward a finish marked by lingering tar and loamy earth. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2033. 1,430 cases made, 80 cases imported.
Contino, the first Rioja château 1973, impelled by CVNE and the owners of the 62-hectare property located in the Rioja Alavesa. The history of the property dates from the 16th century, and is reflected in its name. The “contino” was the officer in charge of a guard corps of a hundred soldiers who protected the royal family "de contino” (continuously) from the times of the Catholic Monarchs onwards. According to the tradition, Saint Gregory, the patron saint of vineyards, passed through the lands of this same Rioja property, giving rise to the use of his figure in the logo of this winery, and to the use of his name for some of the plots now planted with vines. The wine produced on this property, fruity and elegant, is heir to the best Rioja tradition. It is made with an individualised grape harvesting system in which only grapes from the same vineyards that surround the old manor house are used. Their origin in the various plots is noted. The perfect combination of soils, Atlantic-Mediterranean climate and refined technique have made Contino, more than 30 years after the first vintage, a reference product both in and outside Spain. The 62 hectares of Laserna vineyards in Laguardia are protected by the hill called the Cerro de la Mesa, which gives this land a characteristic orientation and mesoclimate. The hand-cut grapes are transported along a short road to the outbuildings so as to avoid damaging their qualities.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.