Bodega Contador - Rioja Alma 2020

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

About the wine:

[...] It's a fragrant, floral wine, with aromatic herbal notes, a little balsamic and quite showy, with very fine tannins and freshness, as it used more grapes from the higher elevations. It's powerful and elegant and, in a way, reminds me of the style of the early vintages of La Cueva de Contador; it's clean and elegant. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.55. It's very young, but already drinkable, as the quality of the tannins is very good. I think this is the wine I'd buy from their portfolio if I could only buy one. It took me back to the wines of the early 2000s. 2022-2032

James Suckling

About the wine:

A new project from Contador who, according to Benjamin Romeo, has adopted a Bordeaux approach by blending vineyards located at three different altitudes. The blend is composed mainly of tempranillo and a little garnacha. Immediately after pouring, the wine still has a certain oak sweetness, but this fades to incense and sandalwood with time in the glass. This is followed by aromas of blueberry concentrate, balsamic purple fruit, warm stones, lavender and iodine. The palate shows a high degree of ripeness and concentration, with violet and blue fruits that give a dark, almost pulpy impression. But the fresh acidity stays the course, offering a nice contrast to the weight and extraction. Long, dense and tight, but also silky. Embryonic at this stage, but full of potential. Slightly powerful on the finish. To be released in 2023. Drink from 2025.