Rioja Vina del Olivo, Viñedos del Contino 2015

“Simply stunning in 2015, as it was in 2014, Contino’s best wine is the kind of red that any serious Rioja lover should have in his cellar. Marrying Tempranillo with 10% Graciano, it’s a world-class cuvée made for the long haul, with aromas of incense and Mediterranean herbs, fine, nuanced tannins, chalky acidity and incredible focus, balance and palate length.”

The one vineyard-designated red I tasted was the 2015 Viña del Olivo, from a specific plot of vines on chalk-rich soils with clay instead of the more common alluvial stones found on the estate and planted in 1980. It's a blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. It fermented in one 10,000-liter oak vat followed by malolactic in new oak barrels (70% French, 20% American and 10% Hungarian), where the wine aged for 18 months with racking every six months. It's a modern, ripe and generously oaked Rioja built for the future. This is a structured and slightly international, "expensively made" wine that gains with time in bottle as it absorbs the effect of the élevage and shows the character of the great vineyards from where it's sourced. Right now, there are lots of tannins too, and the flavors are very oak related, with spices, toast, smoke and coffee. It ends dry. Made in the style of the end of the 1990s, it's for fans of that style and for the future. 9,328 bottles and some larger formats were filled in May 2017.

This is energetic with blackberry, stone and dried lemon rind. Full and tightly structured. Minerality and freshness is superb. Black olive turns to black pepper. Lively finish. Drink or hold.