They started making small quantities of Gran Reserva in 1996, a wine halfway between tradition and modernity. The 2007 Gran Reserva is produced with over 60-year-old, destemmed Tempranillo grapes fermented in cement vats without epoxy coating. At every harvest, the inside of the vats are painted three times with tartaric acid before the grapes arrive, like in the good old days. Malolactic fermentation was carried out in new barrels and then transferred to used American and French barrel where it stayed for three years. The wine, only bottled in magnum (and bigger sizes), also rested in bottle for a minimum of three years before being released. It’s an elegant, clean wine, taking the best of the modern and traditional schools, and it’s both fresh and sweet, very drinkable, with good acidity and very elegant tannins. They try to always have 15% of fresh varieties like Graciano or Garnacha in the blend. This is developing aromas of sweet spices and has a clean, delineated acidity. It should age superbly. Drink 2015-2020. 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

(bottled exclusively in magnums): Deep ruby. Heady, expansive aromas of cherry and dark berry preserves, incense and potpourri, with notes of spicecake and smoky minerals adding complexity. Sappy, palate-staining cherry-vanilla and boysenberry flavors boast superb concentration and pick up a sexy floral pastille nuance with air. Complex, focused and energetic Rioja with superb finishing clarity and gentle tannic grip. A real success for the vintage; I'll bet that this will age gracefully.