RIOJA
Contino One of three wineries owned by the Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (universally known as CVNE, pronounced koo-nay), Contino is a 64ha estate located in the Rioja Alavesa on a bend in the Ebro river. It’s a special, unusually warm site, recognised as such in the early 1970s by CVNE’s then vineyard manager, José Madrazo, who suggested the company make a standalone wine with the grapes. This it duly did in 1974, producing the second single-vineyard wine in Rioja, after Remelluri. The Madrazo name has a long association with Contino. José’s son, Jesús, was winemaker for more than 30 years until he left in July 2017. (One of Madrazo’s new projects, Leizaola’s El Sacramento, is worth looking out for.) For the time being, the Contino wines on the market are Madrazo’s, but his youthful successor Jorgé Navascués is every bit as talented. Weather permitting – 2013 was marked by a violent hailstorm – Contino usually makes seven wines. There’s a rosé, a white and five reds: a varietal Garnacha and Graciano, a Reserva, a Gran Reserva and, best of all, Viña del Olivo, named after a small parcel of vines in the upper part of the estate.
Above: Jorgé Navascués in Contino’s barrel room Contino, Blanco 2016 94 £24.99 Dulwich Vintners, Waitrose It’s easy to overlook Contino’s white, such is the fame of its reds, but this barrel-fermented blend of Viura with a little Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca is complex, floral, leesy and flinty with structure from 24 hours’ skin contact. Drink 2018-2021 Alc 13% Contino, Viña del Olivo 2014 96 £49.50-£66.80 Berry Bros & Rudd, Handford Wines, Harrods, Hedonism, The Wine Society
There was no Olivo in 2012 or ’13, but in 2014 it’s back with interest! Still young plum, cassis, liquorice and fennel with polished tannins and powerful underlying structure. Drink 2020-2030 Alc 14%
Photographs: Tim Atkin MW(2)
Abel Mendoza The name above the door says Abel Mendoza, but this highly respected grower couldn’t make the wines he does without his oenologist wife, Maite Fernández. They are a brilliant team who, together, have made a string of exceptional wines since 1988, inspiring a new generation of terroirdriven wineries in the process. Mendoza farms 18ha of vineyards, spread over 37 parcels, in San Vicente, Labastida and Abalos. He knows the terroirs of the north bank of the Ebro better than anyone. The best time to visit is when the duo’s rumbustious ‘grano a grano’ (berry to berry) picking party is in progress, but it’s always fun to sit around their kitchen table, taste through the range and listen to Mendoza in full, expletive-laden Spanish. The pair make everything from a carbonic maceration Above: Abel Mendoza quaffer, Jarrarte, to a
no-sulphur Tempranillo and three Grano a Grano reds. But it’s the whites that are really exciting, even if they only account for 20% of production. There’s a Viura, a Malvasia Blanca, a Tempranillo Blanco, a Torrontés, a Garnacha Blanca and (my personal favourite) 5V, which combines all five grapes in a delicious blend. Abel Mendoza, 5V 2016 93 £25.75-£31.95 Alliance Wine, Drinkmonger, South Downs Cellars, Uncorked, Winedirect
5V uses five different varieties – Viura, Tempranillo Blanco, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasia and a splash of Torrontés – to produce a rich, textured, waxy white with stone fruit flavours, subtle oak and brisk, balancing acidity. Drink 2018-2021 Alc 13.5% Abel Mendoza, Sin Sulfuroso 2015 96 £25.75-£32.99 Alliance Wine, Highbury Vintners, Winedirect
Biodynamically farmed and made, as its name indicates, without sulphur additions, this is a fruit bomb, with less new oak than most of Mendoza’s reds. Plum, liquorice and blackberry flavours combine appealingly on the palate. Drink 2018-2020 Alc 13.5% ➢ D E C A N T E R • M a r c h 2018 | 69