Also Recommended
Picture
Product Name
Vintage
Price
Varietal
Country
Region
Appellation
Size
Additional Discount
Original Item
2009
$103.49
Tempranillo
Spain
La Rioja
Rioja
750ml
6B / $101.42
Better Score, Similar Price
2006
$101.62
Tempranillo
Spain
La Rioja
Rioja
750ml
Closest Match
2011
$101.94
Tempranillo
Spain
La Rioja
Rioja
750ml
Best QPR in Price range
2016
$72.95
Tempranillo
Spain
La Rioja
Rioja
750ml
More wines available from Benjamin Romeo
Pre-Arrival
Benjamin Romeo Contador 2014
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‘You can’t spit this,’ Benjamín Romeo told me when I tasted it from barrel. It wasn’t the finished blend,...
Pre-Arrival
Benjamin Romeo Contador 2017
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Bottle:
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This is showy, expressive, open and aromatic and seems to jump right out of the glass with decayed flowers, ripe wild...
Pre-Arrival
Benjamin Romeo Contador 2020
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
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The 2020 Contador feels a little more civilized than the 2021 I tasted next to it. The profile is similar—ripe dark...
750ml
Bottle:
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A fresh and mineral nose with cherries, currants and blueberries. Full body, compact and firm tannins and a medium...
More Details
Winery
Benjamin Romeo
Vintage: 2009
Despite less than ideal climatic conditions, featuring storms which threatened an otherwise perfect year, most parts of California had an excellent year for viticulture. Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs were picked at optimum ripeness, and Californian white wine was just about as good as it could be. Surprises and overcoming difficulties summed up much of the United States' wine industry in 2009, and many of the results from Oregon, Washington State and all over California speak for themselves, with the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon grapes having developed healthy, thick skins and thus plenty of character and distinction. Elsewhere in the New World, South Africa had a very good year in 2009, and wineries across the cape of the African continent are proclaiming it a truly great vintage.
In most of Europe, fine weather and punctual ripening periods produced some excellent wines, with many of the best coming out of France's Bordeaux and the surrounding regions. Merlot had an exceptionally good year in France, and wineries are proclaiming that the 2009 Merlot harvest was one of the best in living memory. Indeed, across most of France, ripening was relatively even, and red wine grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Syrah and others were reportedly highly characterful, with plenty of the required tannin levels with which to make high quality wines. Italy, too, had a very good 2009. Piedmont reported extremely favorable conditions throughout 2009, and their signature Nebbiolo grapes were more or less perfect when harvested, having benefited from the slight drop in temperature at the end of their ripening period. Veneto, too, had an enviable year, producing superb Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay wines in 2009.
Varietal: Tempranillo
Without any doubt, the flagship grape varietal of Spain is the Tempranillo. This fine grape varietal has since been grown in several other countries around the world, and continues to be respected and admired for its deep ruby red color, its strong tannins, and the complex and delicious flavors it carries so well. Plum, vanilla, leather, tobacco and herb are just some of the characteristic flavors found in this black skinned grape varietal, and its power and fullness of features makes it a common grape for use in blended wines of exceptional quality. Tempranillo grapes thrive best in regions with a combination of bright, hot sunshine, and cooling breezes, where they can ripen fully and then be aged in oak barrels to mellow, become more rounded and allow their fascinating nature to come forward.
Region: La Rioja
The wines of La Rioja have been famed throughout the world for many centuries, due to their excellence of flavor and deep, complex character. La Rioja is a green and fertile region of Spain, situated on the north of the country, yet sheltered from the cold and wet Atlantic oceanic influences by the expansive Cantabrian mountain range near the coast. La Rioja's most famous and widely loved grape varietal is the Tempranillo, which is grown in the majority of the vineyards in the region. However, many of the best wines of La Rioja are blended varieties, often featuring the aromatic Garnacha varietal for added perfume. The region also produces several extremely fine white wines, usually made from the Viura varietal grape, which are aged in barrels for extra flavor and aroma.
Country: Spain
Spanish wines are renowned world-wide for carrying all the passion and character of the Spanish culture within them. Any lover of Spanish wine would undoubtedly be able to confirm this notion, as the variety and range of flavors and aromas coming from the high end of Spanish produce is truly impressive, and continues to delight and fascinate both newcomers and the more experienced. Spain benefits massively from an ideal climate for wine production and vine cultivation, with its long, scorching hot summers and far reaching oceanic breezes working perfectly with the native and imported grape varietals, which thrive on the mineral rich soils that cover much of the country. With centuries of knowledge, and generations of expertise under their belts, Spanish wineries continue to focus on raising the quality of their nation's wines, helped along the way by relatively new laws and regulations regarding regional excellence and representativeness.