2004 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (11/26/2015)
Sweet red fruit, vanilla and spice, good depth and lots of acid and tannic structure. Much too young to drink now but what the heck. Opened up through the meal, and the fruit came to dominate the wood influences. Hold if you have any self restraint. Decant if you do not.
Posted from CellarTracker
Great wine, but given the size of the production (100k-200k bottles in each release) probably over priced. Buy the 01 which I think is not very far behind.
I think the price on this was inflated because it won WOTY. It came back down to earth though.
It was just fine when I bought it.
01 is better. So is 05. All really really young.
I had the 2004 Vina Real ‘Gran Reserva’ [Rioja] over a couple a nights, with Korean style grilled flanken beef ribs for supper on the last. Although not the Imperial bottling, there is the CVNE flag on the label. Bottom line: this is a lovely wine that benefits from air now and has decades of life ahead of it. The nose shows red cherry fruits, anise, with milk/cream on the palate. The tannins are still there, maybe 2/3 resolved as one still feels a little drying in the mouth, but it pairs well with super fatty meat like short rib flanken. Super balanced, and a mulberry laced wine for the traditionalist.
For me it’s an A-. I’m a little bummed that I missed out on the 2010 Gran Reserva when it was released here. For a producer with a large production, but many bottlings, finding them all generally requires shipping for me.