2011 Rioja Blanco

Now they are releasing the 2011 Blanco a blend of 80% Viura, 15% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Malvasia Riojana that had some skin contact before starting fermentation in stainless steel tanks, ending the alcoholic fermentation in new 350- and 500-liter French oak barrels where it stayed in contact with its lees with battonage twice a week for 6-7 months. Malolactic fermentation is prevented to keep the freshness. It was bottled in July 2012. Quite pale-colored, with an oaky nose accented by notes of flowers and white fruit, it’s austere and has some tannin in the palate. I’d love to see if this develops complexity in the bottle. Drink 2014-2018. Contino is not a brand name from CVNE, it’s a completely separate winery and vineyard in Laserna in the municipality of Laguardia in Rioja Alvesa created as a joint-venture with the owners of a superb vineyard, house and old caves in a meander of the Ebro river in 1973. It is considered the first chateau style winery in Rioja. All their wines are produced with their own grapes sourced from the 63 hectares of vineyards within their San Rafael estate. The style is terroir-driven, classical-modern. In 2013 they suffered a terrible hail storm on September 6, so we’ll see little Contino from the 2013 vintage. They just started experimenting with white in 2006 and they have only sold a couple of vintages. The Vina del Olivo was not ready with the new vintage (2010) so I quickly tasted the 2009, which showed extremely fresh and Atlantic for a powerful vintage, a highly drinkable wine which is already reviewed and available on the database. Imported by Europvin USA, Van Nuys, CA; www.europvin.com