La Cueva del Contador 2020 is a magnificent red wine from Rioja, named after the small century-old cave beneath the castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, where the first wines of the most personal project of the great Benjamín Romeo, former winemaker of Artadi, were aged.
Consumption features
Serving temperature
General features
Type of wine
Region
Grape variety
6% Graciano, 94% Tempranillo
Type of barrel
New French oak barrels
Type of bottle
Bordeaux Bottle
Barrel aging time
18 months
Capacity (cl)
75
General Information
If there is one word that defines La Cueva del Contador 2020, it is complexity. Considered the second great wine from Bodega Contador, it is a red wine made from tempranillo and graciano, originating from a blend of five plots with different clay-limestone soils and microclimates, located in the areas of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Labastida (Rioja), at varying altitudes and orientations. This diversity left its mark on the wine.
Benjamín Romeo founded his most personal project, Bodega Contador, in 1995, a winery that bears his imprint in every step of the winemaking process, from work in the vineyard, practicing biodynamic agriculture, to the design of the labels adorning the bottles. La Cueva del Contador 2020 exemplifies this dedication and is the result of meticulous work that began with the manual selection of the grapes. Once at the winery, the fruit underwent cold maceration and fermentation at controlled temperatures in oak wood vats. After this step, the resulting wine aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels, personally selected by Romeo.
Tasting notes
In appearance, it is ruby red with garnet hues.
On the nose, it stands out for its subtle aromas of toasted coffee over a slightly mineral background.
On the palate, it is long with great fruit weight.
The winery
Benjamín Romeo is one of the most prominent figures among those local winemakers who renewed Rioja in the nineties. His wine Contador catapulted him to international glory. A revolutionary Rioja with which he achieved, in two consecutive vintages (2004 and 2005), the 100 Parker points, the highest international recognition for a wine. The meticulous care of the vineyard explains the quality of his range of wines, conceived as a reflection of the environment and the terroir.
The history of Bodegas Contador began in 1995, in a small garage winery. And it was literally "garage," as his first wines fermented in a garage, while the aging process took place in a cave dug into the hillside, traditionally used for winemaking and aging: the Contador cave. After leaving Artadi in 1999, where he worked as a winemaker, Benjamín Romeo devoted all his attention to his personal project.
A great connoisseur of the area, he gradually acquired small vineyards around San Vicente de Sonsierra (D.O.Ca. Rioja), on the slopes of the Sierra de Toloño, which met high-quality standards: old vines on poor soils, with different exposures and altitudes. In 2008, he inaugurated a new and spectacular winery in the middle of the vineyards of San Vicente de la Sonsierra.