Predicador Blanco 2023 is a carefully crafted blend of viura, garnacha blanca, and malvasía, originating from nearly twenty small plots scattered across the areas of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Leza, and Briones. The harmony between fruit and oak is particularly striking in this complex and mature white wine.
Consumption features
Serving temperature
General features
Type of wine
Region
Grape variety
20% Garnacha blanca, 44% Viura, 36% Malvasía
Type of barrel
French oak barrels (70% of a wine)
Type of bottle
Bordeaux Bottle
Barrel aging time
8 months
Capacity (cl)
75
General Information
Benjamín Romeo, a key figure in the Rioja wine world, has transformed Bodega Contador, his personal project modestly founded in 1995 in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, into one of the benchmark wineries of the D.O.Ca Rioja. From its fragmented vineyard, of the highest quality, come great wines such as this Predicador Blanco 2023, a magnificent coupage, composed of the native viura, garnacha blanca, and malvasía varieties, with the added value of its meticulous aging for 8 months in French oak barrels.
The flagship white wine of Bodega Contador received a 92-point Parker rating for the 2016 vintage. Indeed, the high scores from specialized critics are a distinctive hallmark of Benjamín Romeo's creations, who achieved glory with his top wine Contador, earning the mythical 100 points for two consecutive vintages.
Tasting notes
Greenish-yellow in color.
On the nose, it stands out for its wide aromatic palette, ranging from fine herbs, flowers, and ripe stone fruits (apricot, plum, and peach) to fresh and complex mineral notes.
On the palate, it surprises with its balance between ripeness, wood, and acidity. Marked by freshness and a slight tannic structure, it is refined, dense, voluminous, long, and very lively.
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.