The Bodega Contador story starts in 1995 when Benjamin Romeo, winemaker and vine-grower, acquired a centuries old cave hewn into the rock beneath the Castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra (Rioja). In 1996 he made the first vintage of his “La Cueva del Contador” wine and started to buy vineyards for his plan to become a “bodeguero” - a wine producer.

The new winery (bodega) was opened on 21 June 2008, coinciding with the summer solstice. The building sits at the foot of the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, in the centre of the area where the various Bodega Contador vineyards are located. The three floors or terraces of the winery mirror the original slopes of the site where it is located, at the same time enabling both fruit and wine to be moved by gravity. The building’s terraces are covered with plants that blend in with the local vegetation. The winery has exposed concrete walls so that gradually they become coated with dust and end up melding with the earth from which they came.

Predicador, or “Preacher,” named after Clint Eastwood’s everyman character in the 1985 film
Pale Rider, is composed of fruit from 23 different plots to maximize diversity of elevation, aspect, clone, microclimate, and soil.

Aging Regimen: Aged 18 months in one and two year old French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

Tasting Notes: Predicador is a deep cherry-red color. On the nose red fruits and black fruits predominate, with spicy notes and soft oak showing great complexity. The palate is pleasant and full-bodied, refreshing and full of fruit. Its balancing acidity and ripe tannins bring power and a long finish.

Varietal: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Carignan, and Graciano

Region: Rioja Alta, La Rioja, Spain