2016 Contino Reserva Rioja
SKU #1571995
97 points
James Suckling
This is so powerful and tightly wound with so much intensity and power. Full body. Crushed berries and hints of walnuts and cedar. Purity in fruit. Very subtle character, but great tension and richness.
(7/2019)
94 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
94+ points "The renewed classical red 2016 Reserva was produced as a blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. It fermented in small stainless steel and concrete vats and matured in 225-liter French (80%) and American (20%) oak barrels for 18 months. It has a very expressive nose, open, aromatic and showy, a little Rhône-ish. 2016 was a cooler year and they had a long harvest, and it seems like the fruit ripened thoroughly without excess. It's a natural continuation of the 2015, when the wine already had more freshness and better integrated oak. It has a full body and some dusty tannins, finishing dry and tasty. It's ready to drink. There were 281,389 bottles and 3,000 magnums produced. It was bottled in May 2019." (LG)
(10/2020)
93 points
Wine & Spirits
CVNE’s estate in Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa, covers 153 acres above the Ebro River. The clarity and ease of this Reserva reflect what is possible when Rioja is grown and made at the same place, the place happens to be prime and the team carefully selects the fruit. Given a cold soak with its skins and fermented spontaneously, the wine sustains fresh notes of violets, red currants and cherries, the tannins adding an herbal edge. Lively and bright, the wine left Berkshire chef Amy Loveless wanting the chewy crust of a wood-oven pizza topped with duck sausage.
(12/2020)
93 points
Wine Enthusiast
Fully ripe blackberry, cassis and prune aromas are a touch brandied and heady, indicating that this Reserva from a high-quality year needs a bit more time. A plump palate is both fleshy and flashy, with good depth. Plum, raspberry, currant and chocolaty oak flavors finish full and a touch creamy. Drink through 2028. (MS)
(3/2021)
92 points
Wine Spectator
This broad red shows inviting freshness, with black cherry and red plum notes that are pure and engaging. Accents of herb, graphite and black tea weave along through the smooth, toasty finish.
(6/2021)
K&L Notes
95 Points Tim Atkin MW "This was the last vintage made by the legendary Jesús Madrazo and he certainly left the
bodega on a high note, as this is an excellent, very well-balanced Contino: floral, spicy and lightly Mediterranean with fine oak, fresh tobacco and red berry notes and a seamless blend between Tempranillo and 15% Graciano and Mazuelo."
