The 2021 Alma Contador, produced with 91% Tempranillo and 9% Garnacha, feels very ripe, and the label states 15% alcohol. It has notes of stewed fruit, dark spices, smoke and toast. It has a full-bodied palate with abundant tannins and is very powerful and concentrated but with all the components in good balance. This is going to require a little more time in bottle and/or powerful food. 14,000 bottles produced. It was bottled after 20 months in new French oak barrels.
95 points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Feb 2024)
Dark fruit register from the opening moments - a hum of bilberry, blackberry, cassis, with tobacco, sandalwood, vanilla bean, sweet and refined tannins, dried herb uplift through the finish. Oak is evident, but it works, and is part of the Rioja signature. Second vintage, Benjamin Romeo Hilera winemaker and owner from 5.5ha of 70-year-old vines set across three plots. Benjamin Romeo Hilera winemaker and director.
93 points, Jane Anson (Feb 2024)