2005 Benjamin Romeo Contador 75CL

Rioja

₱35,995
Unit price per

TASTING NOTES:

Wine Rating: RP 100 points
Drink by: 2020 - 2045

The 2005 Contador was selected from three parcels ranging in age from 65-80 years. Malolactic fermentation occurred in new oak followed by 12 months of barrel aging. Opaque purple/black, it has a great brooding nose of crushed stone, truffle, pencil lead, black cherry, and blackberry. Rich, layered, and opulent, on the palate the wine is dense, thick, and tightly wound.
Impressively long, this wine demands 12-15 years of further cellaring. It should show at its best between 2020 and 2045. Words can barely do justice to how singular these wines are. They must be tasted to be believed.

The Bodega Contador story starts in 1995 when Benjamin Romeo, winemaker and vine-grower, acquired a centuries-old cave hewn into the rock beneath the Castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra (Rioja). In 1996 he made the first vintage of his “La Cueva del Contador” wine and started to buy vineyards for his plan to become a “bodeguero” - a wine producer. In the following years he carried out small scale vinifications in the cave and continued to acquire vineyards.

In 1999 he made the first vintage of “Contador”. Seeing these first wines favourably received by the market and specialist press, in 2000 Benjamin decided to dedicate himself full time to his personal project.

The North American wine critic Robert Parker’s Review awarded maximum points (100) to the 2004 and 2005 vintages of Contador, made in the garage. This accolade, hitherto unknown in Spain, hugely increased the label’s international prestige.