2021 Contador

If you want to show a textbook example of the modern, ripe, exuberant and powerful wines from Rioja, the 2021 Contador is a perfect is exactly that. It's a hedonistic dark and ripe Rioja with 15.63% alcohol, plenty of clout, concentration, power and (integrated) oak, as the wine is so aromatic and powerful that it seems to have absorbed the oak quite well. The uncrushed berries fermented in oak vats, and the wine matured in brand-new French oak barriques for 20 months. The tannins are abundant but very fine-grained and leave a dry, chalky sensation on the palate. It should develop nicely in bottle. 4,500 bottles produced.