Contino Rioja Blanco 2020

Golden yellow in colour, clean and bright. This is a supremely elegant, complex white that has enticing floral , citrus and toasted nut aromas. Very good acidity and a delicate mouth feel. Fruity finish with persistent freshness.

Vineyards

The Garnacha Blanca comes from the calcareous clay soils of the San Gregorio Encina plot on the Contino Estate in Rioja Alavesa, which was planted in 1980. The Viura comes from different parts of the estate, from the alluvial, old pago of Lentisco, from the stony San Gregorio La Tabla and from La Finca de Santa María. All of these vines are between 35 and 40 years old.

Vintage

The 2020 vintage has been an early harvest, where climate change is a visible fact and has made itself known. An early harvest, with a very interesting ripening, marked by high yields in the vineyard. It was marked by high rainfall, with above-average values. Prior to and during the harvest, there were episodes of rain. This resulted in a thickening of the berries and a consequent increase in the weight of the bunches. This season is characterised by moderate temperatures throughout the entire cycle. The harvest of our white varieties took place on September 7th at our San Gregorio Encina estate and the Tablade Laserna.

Winemaking

The close proximity of the vineyards to the winery means that the grapes arrived in perfect conditions. Whole bunches of hand-picked grapes were destemmed and transferred to a stainless steel vat where 24 hours of skin contact took place. Following this, the vat was drained and pressed and the alcoholic fermentation took place. In March, 54% of the Contino Blanco is placed in 500, 400 and 300 liter used French barrels. The rest of the wine, 46%, is aged in concrete. After 9 months they are unified again and aged in a stainlees steel tank until the bottling date.