2021 Benjamin Romeo Alma Contador

2021 Benjamin Romeo Alma Contador is a finely crafted Rioja red that captures the soul of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, the historic heart of the region. Created by iconic Spanish winemaker Benjamin Romeo and distributed via the prestigious Place de Bordeaux, this limited-production cuvée is positioned among Spain’s most sought-after modern classics. Named after Romeo’s young daughter Alma and released on International Women’s Day, the wine marries power and grace in a distinctly refined, contemporary Rioja style.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, Alma Contador 2021 shows a deep, vibrant ruby hue with a youthful purple rim, reflecting its concentration and freshness. The nose is perfumed and expressive, offering layers of red and black cherries, blueberries and ripe plums, intertwined with dried violets, rose petals and subtle notes of aromatic Mediterranean herbs. As it opens, hints of balsamic, graphite, sweet spice and fine French oak (vanilla, cedar, a touch of cocoa) emerge, all seamlessly integrated. On the palate, the wine is both powerful and elegant, with a refined structure and impressive clarity of fruit. Tempranillo provides depth, intensity and a firm yet polished tannic backbone, while Garnacha Tinta brings lift, juiciness and floral freshness. You can expect a core of dark berry and cherry fruit, framed by mineral tension from the higher-altitude parcels and a gently gourmand richness from the lower sites. The tannins are very fine-grained and silky, and the acidity is lively, stretching the finish into long, savory, balsamic and subtly spicy nuances. This is a Rioja built for both early pleasure and long-term evolution, with serious aging potential of 10–15 years or more under proper cellaring, gaining complexity in truffle, leather and tobacco notes over time.

Production
Alma Contador 2021 is sourced from three distinct parcels—La Viña de Andrés, El Bombón and Diasol—in and around San Vicente de la Sonsierra, one of Rioja’s most prized terroirs. These vineyards span high, mid and lower elevations, each contributing a different dimension: intensity and structure from the high sites, mineral precision from the mid-slopes, and a more gourmand, generous profile from the lower-lying vines. The blend is based on Tempranillo with a portion of Garnacha Tinta to enhance freshness and elegance. Grapes are carefully harvested by hand to ensure optimal selection at the vine, then vinified with meticulous attention to detail to preserve purity of fruit and terroir expression. The wine is matured for 20 months in new French oak barrels sourced from six different cooperages, allowing Benjamin Romeo to fine-tune texture, spice and integration without overshadowing the character of the vineyards.

Food & Serving
This refined yet powerful Rioja is a natural partner for richly flavored dishes such as roasted lamb, slow-braised beef, Iberico pork, game birds, or a classic entrecôte with rosemary and garlic. It also pairs beautifully with mature hard cheeses, truffle dishes and hearty mushroom-based recipes that echo its earthy and balsamic nuances. Serve at 16–18°C (60–64°F) for optimal expression. If opened in its youth, decant for 1–2 hours to fully reveal its floral perfume, layered fruit and fine-grained tannins; as it matures, a shorter decant or careful pouring off the sediment will suffice.

Producer
Benjamin Romeo is one of Spain’s most acclaimed winemakers, renowned for elevating Rioja to modern icon status through his Contador project. Based in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, he has built a reputation for meticulous vineyard work, low yields and precision in the cellar, leading to consistently high critical acclaim—including the rare achievement of 100-point scores from Robert Parker for Contador 2004 and 2005. Alma Contador represents a new, more classically inspired facet of his vision: a wine that distills the essence of his best parcels into a cuvée that is both profoundly rooted in Rioja’s history and unmistakably contemporary. Through limited-production, vineyard-driven wines like Alma, Benjamin Romeo continues to shape the benchmark for high-end Rioja on the world stage.

We deliver within 2 - 6 business days. You can choose whether it should be to a parcel shop or home delivery. Free delivery to both parcel shops and your front door. Our store partners primarily use GLS, DPD, UPS and DHL for deliveries. We cover deliveries to the majority of countries in Europe.