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Anthony Gismondi on Wine
CVNE Imperial Rioja Gran Reservatext
95POINTS
18/20

CVNE Imperial Rioja Gran Reserva 2010

Rioja, SpainI thought the 2009 from a warm vintage was good, but this is even better. A Rioja classic, the latest Imperial GR is all that and plus. The density, weight, texture is sensational. It’s as if this winery has stepped out of the worst of the past and embraced the best of the future and kept everything in between. Delicate, focused, persistent and elegant, do you need any more urging to buy this wine? A sublime red you can drink now or hold for another decade and beyond. Bodegas C.V.N.E. is still owned and run by the Real de Asua family, who opened the doors back in 1879. Its full name is Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España but everyone calls it ‘coonay’ After its initials. The C.V.N.E. Imperial is a Rioja classic, first bottled in the 1920s. The name is an ode to a special bottling for the English in a measure the Spanish called ‘Pinta Imperial’ or ‘Imperial Pint’, approximately half a litre. The vineyard, in Villalba and Haro in Rioja Alta, is over 20-years-old and is part of a new facility built in the late 1980s, putting an end to several years of less than clean wines. The dry farmed bushvines are responsible for low yields and intense fruit all aged in American and French oak barrels. Load up collectors. The blend is mostly tempranillo with fifteen percent graciano and mazuelo.Tasted: 26 March 2018Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:
BC$88.99750mlBCLS
Producer: Compañía Vitivinícola del Norte de Espana (CVNE)Distributors: Pacific Wine & Spirits Inc.
Blend: Tempranillo - Graciano - MazueloCSPC: 26892UPC: 8410591002178