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Contino Vina Del Olivo, Compañia Vinicola del Norte de España (CVNE) 2021

Tasting Notes

“Well, well, well. This is one of the best wines of an outstanding vintage, demonstrating that this warm Rioja Alavesa site performs best in cooler vintages. It's a wine that oozes quality from the first sniff, all blackcurrant leaf, coffee bean and wild herbs, leading into a palate of mocha, plum and blackberry. The palate is refined, polished and beautifully freighted, marrying Tempranillo, 15% Graciano and 5% each of Mazuelo and Garnacha to (near) perfection. I can't recall a better wine from the estate. Bravo!”

99
Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com, February 2024

“The 2021 Viña del Olivo comes from one of the few non-alluvial plots on the property, as it has clay and limestone soils, a pure south exposure with vines planted in 1980 that produce deep wines with very good aging potential. It fermented in oak vats and matured in oak barrels for 14 months followed by another two months in oak vats. It's 80% Tempranillo, 15% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo with 13.85% alcohol, a pH of 3.57 and 5.3 grams of acidity. It surprised me with its finesse and elegance, a big change. There's no sensation of oak, and it's fresh, profound and floral, with concentrated back berry fruit, a touch of bacon (but all very subtle), a vibrant palate (the Graciano and the year?) and very fine tannins. It's still a baby but has gobsmacking balance and very fine tannins. I already liked the 2020, but this is one step above. Possibly the finest Olivo to date... 15,333 bottles and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in July 2023.”

96+
Luis Gutierrez, RobertParker.com, February 2024
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.