The 2018 Viña del Olivo comes from a plot planted in 1980 that has different soils from the rest of the property, which is mostly alluvial. Here, the soils are composed of clay and limestone. It's 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, which fermented in 1,000-liter French oak vats followed by 16 months in barrel and a further three months in oak vats. This is raw and young, but it's already been released because the wine sells like hot cakes. It's marked by the toasted barrels and has all the baby fat it needs to be rendered invisible with time in bottle. It has very good freshness and round and sophisticated tannins with purity of fruit and finesse. 13,640 bottles and some larger formats. It was bottled in April 2020.
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Contino (Cvne) Rioja Vina Del Olivo 2018 750ml
Rated 95 by Wine Advocate
The 2018 Viña del Olivo comes from a plot planted in 1980 that has different soils from the rest of the property, which is mostly alluvial. Here, the soils are composed of clay and limestone. It's 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, which fermented in 1,000-liter French oak vats followed by 16 months in barrel and a further three months in oak vats. This is raw and young, but it's already been released because the wine sells like hot cakes. It's marked by the toasted barrels and has all the baby fat it needs to be rendered invisible with time in bottle. It has very good freshness and round and sophisticated tannins with purity of fruit and finesse. 13,640 bottles and some larger formats. It was bottled in April 2020.
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Rated 95 by James Suckling
So pure and vivid aromas with dark berries and flowers, as well as hints of black olives. Full-bodied with a compact and very fine-grained palate. So much intensity to the balance in this wine. Give it three or four years to come together, but a beauty already. Try after 2024.
Viña del Olivo aims to be the maximum expression of Contino’s terroir as it is one of the few calcareous clay estates in Contino (the others are primarily alluvial) with a very high content of active limestone, a 5 to 7% south-facing slope, dry land, no herbicides, and organic fertilisation. A mineral wine for ageing that expresses its modernity with harmony and balance.
Our Contino Viña del Olivo is produced from the best bunches of grapes hand-harvested from our Olivo vineyard (a 700-year-old vineyard). The grapes are carefully harvested in crates and sorted meticulously upon arrival at the winery. Next, the grapes are fermented in 100-hectolitre French oak vats at a temperature of 28-30ºC for ten days, after a further ten days of maceration. The grapes then undergo malolactic fermentation for 15 days in new French oak barrels (85%) and American oak barrels (15%). Finally, the wine is then aged for 16 months before being transferred to wooden vats for three months.