Contino, the château of CVNE in Rioja Alavesa, presents Contino Garnacha 2022, a complex and highly elegant single-varietal wine meticulously crafted by Jorge Navascués.
General features
Type of wine
Region
Grape variety
100% Garnacha tinta
Type of bottle
Burgundy Bottle
Capacity (cl)
75
Bottling
Julio de 2024
Total acidity (g/l)
5.99
Volatile acidity (g/l)
0.47
pH
3.37
Alcohol content (% vol.)
13.87
General Information
Viñedos del Contino is the château of CVNE and ahead of its time. A house equipped with 16th-century cellars, which preserve the wines in optimal temperature and humidity conditions, surrounded by its own vineyard, the sole source used by the winery for wine production.
From there, we bring you Contino Garnacha 2022, a wine of bold personality that underscores the modern side of the CVNE group. The grapes used in its production come from the San Gregorio Encina and Viña Laserna estates, with clay-limestone soils of medium to high stoniness.
After manual harvesting, with selection in the field and on sorting tables upon arrival at the winery, the grapes are placed in a wooden vat, where a pre-fermentation maceration takes place until fermentation begins spontaneously. After eight days, fermentation concludes, but the garnacha remains in the vat until, 15 days later, it is transferred to a 2,000-liter Stockinger foudre, 500-liter oak barrels, and concrete tanks, where the wine ages for 16 months. Five additional months of resting in concrete tanks will further refine this fragrant and mineral wine with silky tannins and excellent acidity.
Contino Garnacha 2022 is a red wine from the D.O. Ca. Rioja, remarkably elegant and captivating, positioned among the elite of single-varietal garnachas in the Iberian Peninsula.
Tasting notes
On the nose, Contino Garnacha is elegant, complex, and fragrant. Very fruity, with delicate notes of low scrubland, lilac caramel, and balsamic herbs.
On the palate, it is broad, with a mineral and slightly saline character. It shows great balance between acidity, body, and alcohol, featuring high-quality tannins that provide a very elegant texture. Long-lasting finish.
The winery
The Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España is one of the great symbols of the Estación de Haro neighborhood, the great capital of Rioja wine. Founded in 1879 by the brothers Raimundo and Eusebio Real de Asúa, CVNE (as it is known worldwide) can proudly claim to have remained at the top throughout its history. Ten years after its creation, the winery inaugurated an impressive barrel hall designed by the studio of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. By 1900, it was already producing nearly 80,000 bottles, an unthinkable feat for the time. The 20th century established CVNE as an institution of Spanish wine.
Over 140 years, it has successfully combined tradition and innovation to create wines that today are the standard-bearers of Rioja reds and have garnered international critical acclaim. Its Imperial Gran Reserva 2004 made history when it was chosen as Wine of the Year 2013 by the prestigious American magazine Wine Spectator, marking the first time a Spanish wine received this recognition.
Since its foundation, CVNE has expanded its heritage and grown with avant-garde projects at different times in its history, such as the creation of Viñedos del Contino or Viña Real.