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Accountant 2017

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97 points Robert Parker and 97 points José Peñín

The history of this winery began in 1995, when Benjamín acquired a centuries-old cave beneath the castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. In 1996 he produced the first vintage of the wine "La Cueva del Contador" there and began buying vineyards for his project.

Over the following years, he carried out small-scale winemaking in the cave and continued to acquire vineyards. In 1999, he harvested his first wine, "Contador", and in 2000, given the good reception of these first wines, he decided to dedicate himself exclusively to his personal project.

From 2001 onwards, Benjamín Romeo left the cave he had acquired to make his wines from then on in the garage of his parents' house in San Vicente. In this way, the winemaking capacity offered by the cave increased.

The 2004 and 2005 vintages of "Contador" were a very positive turning point for the project, achieving the desired 100 Parker points. This recognition was unprecedented in Spain, as these were vintages still made in the Benjamin family's garage.

To give the project the dimension it deserved, between 2004 and 2006 Benjamín Romeo designed the current winery together with the architect Héctor Herrera. The new winery, inaugurated on June 21, 2008, is located at the foot of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and has a structure of 3 floors or terraces that reproduce the original slopes of the land and, at the same time, facilitates the handling of grapes and wine by gravity.

Adega Contador has more than 50 plots with different soils, microclimates, orientations, altitudes, grape varieties and clones that allow us to produce highly complex wines. Most of the vineyards are planted under glass, a training method traditionally used in La Rioja.

The land is cultivated on average 6 times a year between pruning and grape ripening, depending on the circumstances of each season. Farming involves several tasks, including some specific to viticulture, such as cutting shoots.

The harvest is done manually by experienced pickers. The grapes are transported to the winery in boxes with a capacity of 14 kg and within a maximum period of half an hour.

Once in the winery, and always working by gravity, alcoholic fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature in conical French oak vats with a capacity of 10,000 liters. Both the emptying of the tanks and the filling of the barrels are also done by gravity. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels.

As for oak, Bodega Contador works exclusively with the 10 most prestigious cooperages in France and with the top-quality barrels from each of these cooperages. Benjamin Romeo travels to France to personally select the best oaks.

Bodega Contador currently sells 75% of its wines internationally and the remaining 25% in Spain. Patxi Fernández, a friend of Benjamín Romeo since childhood, heads the winery’s commercial operations worldwide.