Sarah Heller MW is Asia-Pacific's youngest Master of Wine. Sarah is not only a wine expert of the finest hour, but also a visual artist. Her Visual Tasting Notes are a unique project; an extraordinary rendition of a wine description.
You need to read these visual tasting notes from from top to bottom. The outline of the picture reflects the 'shape' of the wine. All other tasting components have been incorporated into the artwork as well, such as aromas, colours, acids and tannins.
Her tasting note of Contador 2011 is as follows: dried cranberries, cocoa powder, nutmeg; plush, luscious texture with extremely fine chalky tannins, enlivening acid, satiny but broad.
About the winery
Bodegas Contador, in the heart of Rioja wines, is a winery that is small in size but high in quality. In 1995, Benjamin Romeo Contador bought a wine cellar beneath the castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and he subsequently started buying nearby vineyards. He now owns fifty different plots, which means that there is a great variety in the terroirs that he uses.
La Cueva del Contador 1996 was his first vintage, making its debut in 1999. Benjamin used his parents' garage for his wine production, since he didn’t own a vinification room for the first six years. The 2004 and 2005 vintages – both produced in the garage – were awarded the maximum number of points by Robert Parker just after their release. An extraordinary achievement in that short amount of time!
In June 2008, a new bodega was finally opened. It was designed by architect Héctor Herrera and it was built to make use of gravity. This means that the wine flows down along the levels of the cellar and doesn’t need to be pumped from barrel to barrel. This results in more refined wines. A total of six different cuvées are produced in the cellar of Bodegas Contador, but in limited editions, because only 6,000 bottles are produced per year.
Contador 2011
The 2011 vintage consists of 94% Tempranillo, supplemented with 3% Graciano and 3% Mazuelo. The grapes come from old vines from several vineyards. These vineyards are spread over the municipalities of San Vincente de la Sonsierra, Briones, Ábalos and Labastida. After manual harvesting, the bunches are first destemmed. Both fermentation and maturation take place in wooden barrels of 100% new French oak. After 18 months of barrel aging, the wine is bottled. Contador is an amazing wine and it’s clear why it is considered Benjamin's showpiece...
