- Colour Red
- Producer CVNE
- Region Rioja
- Grape Tempranillo / Mazuelo / Graciano
- Case size 6x150cl
- Available Now
2001 - Imperial Rioja Gran Reserva CVNE - 6x150cl
- Colour Red
- Producer CVNE
- Region Rioja
- Grape Tempranillo / Mazuelo / Graciano
- Case size 6x150cl
- Available Now
Select pricing type
Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuis.com.
-
Neal Martin, August 2012, Score: 94
The 2001 Imperial Gran Reserva has a more complex, better defined nose than the 2000, with black cherries, spice and Seville orange marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine tannins cloaked in sweet dark cherry, bitter orange and strawberry fruit. It is lighter on its feet than the 2000, with less persistence, yet it shows greater harmony and tension. This is a fabulous Gran Reserva with enormous weight and dimension. Drink now-2035. C.V.N.E. needs absolutely no introduction. It is seen as a bastion of traditional Rioja, and older vintages are revered (even though I myself found some of them rather enervated when tasting in London in 2009). The company owns Contino, which is run independently, as well as Vina Real.
-
Vinous, September 2012, Score: 94
(raised for 24 months in American oak casks): Bright ruby-red; doesn't look to be 11 years old. Powerful, oak-spiced aromas of candied cherry and raspberry, with suave vanilla, mocha and floral nuances and slow-building tobacco and leather elements. Pliant, palate-staining red fruit and floral pastille flavors show impressive depth and heft, with a good lashing of sweet vanillin oak. Sweet and expansive on the gently tannic finish, which shows excellent clarity and length. This wine seems poised for a very long, graceful evolution.
Producer
CVNE
Historic Rioja house, which includes the estates of Vina Real, Contino, Imperial, and Cune. They pride themselves on incorporating Rioja's tradition and modern innovation. C.V.N.E. stands for Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana (The Northern Spanish Wine Company). It was established in 1879 and is still run by the same family today, now in its fifth generation.
Region
Rioja
By the far the best known of Spain's wine regions is Rioja, which takes its name from the rio(river) Oja, a tributary of the river Ebro. Lying in the north of the country, along the Ebro valley, the area is sheltered from rain-bearing Atlantic winds by the dramatic Sierra de Cantabria to the north and west. The hilly vineyards are interspersed with orchards, poplars and eucalyptus trees. Rioja is further divided into three sub-regions - Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja. The first two are best regarded, with vines planted on cool slopes with clay and limestone soils. The permitted grape varieties for Rioja are tempranillo, which is grown extensively in Rioja Alta and Alavesa and will form the backbone of all the best wines, garnacha, widespread in Rioja Baja and used to add body to the blend, and mazuelo (carignan) and graciano, both grown in miniscule proportions. The key to understanding Rioja is the technique used to mature the wine. Unlike most other areas of Europe, American oak barrels are used which give the wines their characteristic soft vanilla, almost coconuty flavour. Historically the wines were aged for periods far longer than legally required, until all the fruit character had died down and the end result was a light, tawny-coloured wine dominated by oak flavours. Although there are still supporters of this classic style, far more producers are making wines in a more modern way, allowing the dark berry fruit flavours to burst through balanced by a more judicious use of oak ageing and often opting for French oak now.
