CVNE Vinedos del Contino Contino White, Rioja DOCa, Spain

孔蒂諾酒莊孔蒂諾干白葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：13237

The white 2020 Blanco is a little closed, young, clean and tender with subtle oak. They produced a little bit more in 2020, and the wine has less oak and less buttery sensations, a change that started with the 2017 vintage, which seems to have found its style harvesting earlier to retain freshness; it has 13.04% alcohol and a low pH 3.23 and matured in larger oak containers, 500-liter oak barrels and some concrete for 12 months. It's floral and expressive, a blend of Viura with 20% Garnacha Blanca that they still consider work in progress but moving in the direction they want to go. 16,200 bottles and 100 magnums were filled in March 2022.

The white 2018 Blanco wants to go to the traditional style of Rioja, with aging potential and balance. It's 90% Viura and 10% Garnacha Blanca with 12.62% alcohol and a pH of 3.2, so quite fresh and with moderate alcohol reflecting the cooler vintage. It fermented in stainless steel and two concrete eggs and matured in 400- and 500-liter barriques but with 30% of the volume kept unoaked in concrete. Making a white has always been a challenge at Contino because the place is warm, and I think this 2018 is the finest white produced at the property since they started with something almost experimental in 2004. There are white grapes spread throughout the property, and for this wine, they used mostly grapes from a plot that has some of the oldest vines. 2018 is a cooler year, and the wine has a lot less oak than in previous vintages. Also, to keep some extra freshness, it didn't go through malolactic. It has a nose of aromatic herbs and waxy apples, following the 2017 that was the first wine produced by the new technical team. The palate is fresh and shows some austerity, more elegant than powerful, and it's quite long. 14,057 bottles and some large formats produced. It was bottled in December 2019.

The white 2017 Blanco is one of the first wines from winemaker Jorge Navascues to see the light. It's a blend of Viura with some 10% Garnacha Blanca that was destemmed and put through a three-hour cold soak. Only half of the wine matured in new 400- and 500-liter oak barrels, and the other half was kept in stainless steel for ten months. The wine is quite fresh and fruit-driven, with waxy apples and some aromatic herbs, with some restrain and not really exuberant, with the oak in the background. The palate is very tasty, the flavors are well-defined, and the finish is dry and a bit salty. There is brightness and freshness, and I think it should evolve nicely in bottle. 14,000 bottles and some larger formats were filled in November 2018.

The 2016 Blanco is a blend of 85% Viura, 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Malvasía Riojana that fermented in stainless steel vats and one 700-liter Nomblot egg-shaped concrete vat. The wine finished fermenting in new 350- and 500-liter French oak barriques with 8% acacia wood barrels. It matured in those casks for some six to seven months with batonnage twice per week. It didn't go through malolactic fermentation. There are notes of fennel and yeasts, a bit leesy with a core of white fruit, not too aromatic or showy and a bit restrained. The palate feels very balanced with good freshness, clean and also a little restrained. It feels like an improvement over previous years. The fennel and aniseed notes grow with time in the glass. 10,428 bottles were filled in July 2017.

The white 2015 Contino is a classic blend of 85% Viura, 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Malvasía Riojana that went through a cold maceration, before fermenting in small stainless steel vats and one 700-liter Nomblot, egg-shaped, cement vat that was first used in 2014. The wine finished fermentation in 350- and 500-liter (mostly new) barriques with a handful of acacia wood barrels thrown in, where it matured for six/seven months with batonnage twice per week; it was then transferred to stainless steel vats again. It doesn't go through malolactic fermentation to keep acidity. Even with that I find the acidity on the lowish side, and a ripe and glycerin-rich vintage might give a slightly bittersweet sensation. The nose is quite straightforward with white fruit and flower aromas, with almost unnoticeable oak and just a pinch of spices and balsamic aromas (bay leaf). 9,000 bottles produced and filled in June 2016, two days before I tasted it.