Contino (Cune) Rioja Gran Reserva 2017

95+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2017 Rioja “Gran Reserva” from Contino is truly a stunning young wine. It is composed this year from a blend of seventy percent tempranillo, fifteen percent graciano, ten percent mazuelo and five percent garnacha. The wine is fermented in cement tanks and undergoes malo in the same vessels, prior to being racked into a combination of new and older French oak small barrels for two years of cask aging. The wine is already beautifully expressive aromatically, wafting from the glass in a mix of red and black raspberries, a fine array of Rioja spice tones, a touch of nutskin, cigar smoke, a gorgeous base of soil, gentle meatiness and an elegant framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, complex, full-bodied and very refined in personality, with a beautiful core of fruit, lovely transparency and grip, very fine-grained, buried tannins and a long, seamless and very classy finish. This is a great wine! 2030-2080+. (Mar/Apr 2024)"

95 points Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate): "The Contino vineyards escaped the frost from 2017, and the 2017 Gran Reserva, from a warm and dry year, is a blend of 82% Tempranillo, 5% Mazuelo, 10% Graciano and 3% Garnacha, the selection of the best grapes from different plots in the estate. This is 100% from the new team and from a vintage they consider very good for their property, different than the majority of Rioja. The idea is to follow the long aging in oak to continue with the tradition and keeping the freshness and controlling the power from the place. This is hedonistic and flattering, spicy after maturing in French barrique for 24 months. They harvested earlier than ever, in early September, and the wine reached 13.52% and has very good freshness with a pH of 3.47. It's round and enjoyable, fresher than the last vintage I had tried. It was bottled in June 2020. (7/14/22)"

94 points James Suckling: "A fruity and juicy red with round tannins and savory fruit. Medium to full body and a creamy texture. Hints of caramel and meat to the dark fruit. 85% tempranillo, 10% graciano, 5% mazuelo and garnacha. Enjoyable now. (9/9/22)"

94 points Peñín Guide to Spanish Wine: "(82% tempranillo, 5% mazuelo, 10% graciano, 3% garnacha). Colour: dark-red cherry, garnet rim. Nose: ripe fruit, aged wood nuances, tobacco, sweet spices. Palate: spicy, round tannins, long. (2023)"

93 points Tim Atkin, MW: "(14%). Contino's Reserva combines fruit from a series of "micro-plots" on this single estate, partnering Tempranillo with 14% Mazuelo, Graciano and Garnacha. Spicy, rich and perfumed, with some of the focus of a cooler year in a warmer site, this is sweetly wooded, Mediterranean herb scented and built to last. 2024-32. (2022)"