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.
In the following years he carried out small scale vinifications in the cave and continued to acquire vineyards. In 1999 he made the first vintage of “Contador”. Seeing these first wines favourably received by the market and specialist press, in 2000 Benjamin decided to dedicate himself full time to his personal project.
Throughout 2001 Benjamin Romeo reconditioned and equipped the garage at his parents’ home in San Vicente for winemaking, thereby increasing the vinification capacity over what was possible in the cave.
The North American wine critic Robert Parker’s Review awarded maximum points (100) to the 2004 and 2005 vintages of Contador, made in the garage. This accolade, hitherto unknown in Spain, hugely increased the label’s international prestige.
