Much like the great Bordeaux châteaux it was modeled after, Contino delivers remarkable precision, purity, and terroir expression at scale—and the amount of wine an estate like this has aging in its cellars at any one time is simply incredible. Gran Reserva Rioja, with its minimum aging requirements, is truly a relic of another era: Few modern wineries can afford to hold inventory for three years in barrel and two years in bottle, as Contino has here, then release the wine at an accessible price. On the one hand, they’ve “pre-aged” the wine for you, which is an appealing feature in itself, but really, this 2017 is just getting started: All sorts of intriguing ‘secondary’ aromas (tobacco, spices, leather) are just starting to creep into the picture. There’s no doubt this wine has the structure and balance to age for decades.