Contino Reserva 2016

This is so powerful and tightly wound with so much intensity and power. Full body. Crushed berries and hints of walnuts and cedar. Purity in fruit. Very subtle character, but great tension and richness. Drink after 2021.

This was the last vintage made by the legendary Jesús Madrazo and he certainly left the bodega on a high note, as this is an excellent, very well-balanced Contino: floral, spicy and lightly Mediterranean with fine oak, fresh tobacco and red berry notes and a seamless blend between Tempranillo and 15% Graciano and Mazuelo. 2021-31.

The renewed classical red 2016 Reserva was produced as a blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. It fermented in small stainless steel and concrete vats and matured in 225-liter French (80%) and American (20%) oak barrels for 18 months. It has a very expressive nose, open, aromatic and showy, a little Rhône-ish. 2016 was a cooler year and they had a long harvest, and it seems like the fruit ripened thoroughly without excess. It's a natural continuation of the 2015, when the wine already had more freshness and better integrated oak. It has a full body and some dusty tannins, finishing dry and tasty. It's ready to drink. There were 281,389 bottles and 3,000 magnums produced. It was bottled in May 2019.

Fully ripe blackberry, cassis and prune aromas are a touch brandied and heady, indicating that this Reserva from a high-quality year needs a bit more time. A plump palate is both fleshy and flashy, with good depth. Plum, raspberry, currant and chocolaty oak flavors finish full and a touch creamy. Drink through 2028. Michael Schachner.