One of the epic stars of Rioja, Benjamin Romeo worked as winemaker at Artadi between 1985 and 2000, before starting his Contador project. Situated in and around San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Benjamin has 7 hectares, half devoted to La Vina de Andres, and the other half divided between 20 plots averaging 130 square feet with vines up to 100 years old. His wines have gained international acclaim. I would describe his winemaking style as modern, with old world elegance — almost like Opus One which is obviously a new world wine shows refinement and elegance.
Across the board, Romeo hits a home run with his new release wines. A tremendous value Rioja Blanco, the 2021 Bodega Contador ‘Predicator’ Rioja Blanco (OB, 92) which is rich and viscous stuff, with fantastic flavor range. A very special and novel wine, the 2022 Bodega Contador ‘Que Bonito Cacareaba’ White Wine (OB, 95) is very dense and heady with a fantastic viscosity and mineral backbone. Learn more about these very special wines at http://bodegacontador.com Here are the fantastic new wines by Bodega Contador.
2022 Bodega Contador ‘Predicator’ Rioja Blanco- The 2022 ‘Predicador’ combines Garnacha Bianco (42%), and Viura (33%) with the remainder MalvasÃa. This is smooth and silky on the palate, delivering saline drenched melon fruits, tangerine peel and beeswax notes on the palate, with nutty accents. A total gem, this over-delivers for the price. Drink 2024-2032- 92
2021 Bodega Contador ‘Predicator’ Rioja- This great wine is a combination of 96% Tempranillo with a touch of Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo which was aged for 16 months in French oak. This is a really good value, showing rich dark fruits, kumquat zest and chocolate tones on the palate with pipe tobacco, leather and loamy soils. Drink 2024-2032-92
2022 Bodega Contador ‘Que Bonito Cacareaba’ White Wine- The 2022 Bodega Contador ‘Que Bonito Cacareaba’ White Wine is another magical release of this wine, blending 50% Garnacha Blanca, with 34% Viura, and the remainder 16% MalvasÃa. It is wonderfully refined and viscous. Layers of honeycomb, white peach, starfruit and juicy pear all parade with sourdough bread and pecan accents on the palate. Finishing exceedingly long, this is a total masterpiece by Contador. Drink 2024-2039- 95