2017 Contino Graciano
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Tasting notes
Dark, shimmering ruby. Highly expressive, smoke-accented cherry and blueberry aromas are complicated by floral, vanilla and exotic spice notes. Sappy, sweet and broad on the palate, offering ripe red and blue fruit, mocha and floral pastille flavors that become spicier as the wine opens up. Shows solid thrust on the long, oak-spiced finish, which is framed by gently chewy tannins.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Lots of blueberries and slate with crushed stone and concrete. Full body. Linear and refined with super fine tannins. Bright acidity and graphite undertones. Driven and agile. Dances on the palate. Best now.
I caught the varietal 2017 Graciano just before being bottled. The grapes were picked on the 8th of September, which is quite early, and the finished wine has 13.73% alcohol and a pH of 3.33 with 6.37 grams of acidity (tartaric). The grapes come from a 3.7-hectare plot planted in 1979 and 1989. As they want to preserve the varietal character, they did a soft vinification in small oak vats, but it was aged in new oak barrels, mostly French oak and some 28% American oak. The wine matured for 14 months and then was transferred to concrete tanks, where it matured for a further four to five months to avoid too much oak. It feels very tender, a little creamy and very young, in need of a bit of time in bottle; it should be kept in bottle for a while before it's released. The nose might be difficult to read, but the palate is explosive and very varietal, vibrant, lively and integrated, like biting into a ripe bunch of Graciano grapes. It should make old bones. I look forward to tasting this in bottle next time.