Contino, the first Rioja château since 1973, impelled by CVNE and the owners of the 62-hectare property located in the Rioja Alavesa. The history of the property dates from the 16th century and is reflected in its name. The “contino” was the officer in charge of a guard corps of a hundred soldiers who protected the royal family “de contino” (continuously) from the times of the Catholic Monarchs onwards. According to the tradition, Saint Gregory, the patron saint of vineyards, passed through the lands of this same Rioja property, giving rise to the use of his figure in the logo of this winery, and to the use of his name for some of the plots now planted with vines.

Since 1994, Contino has made a pioneering effort to rescue the Graciano variety from oblivion in the Rioja region. Contino Graciano is a 100% monovarietal wine; with intense, vivid colour, deeply aromatic, imbued with the spirit of a wine of northern Spain, Atlantic in character, fresh and complex. Harvested from just 10 hectares of vines, this is a limited-edition wine in a unique numbered bottle and is a wine truly to be savoured.

This Graciano is very aromatic with wild blueberries, cassis notes, aniseed, and aromatic herbs mint and eucalyptus and a slight hint of leather. It now begins to show some dried fruit character alongside tobacco, truffle, and gamey notes. Drinking beautifully now from this single estate Bordelais style producer.