140 bottles of this treasure were found in the winery’s cellar around 2011 before it was reconditioned, sealed with fresh corks, and released into the world a few years later. A portion of these made their way to the Portland market in 2017 thanks to a fantastic local distributor, Casa Bruno. I picked this up in September 2025 at Market of Choice in Bend for only $265 and opened with friends back home in Seattle on 10/19/25.
Popped and poured - pristine cork beneath the wax and beautiful color, not at all brown or tawny, more brick-ish, slightly orange towards the rim. First sniff- clearly this is a sound, complete wine that is without a doubt very much alive, quite different than the '33 Chateau Margaux we had recently. Aromatically reminiscent of old Bordeaux with ample leather, earth, cigar box and tobacco, sandalwood veering towards old wooden cabinet (if that makes sense), clove and nutmeg and cola, fruit still present- strawberry/pomegranate, orange, very herbal and floral with dried rose petals/potpurri, vibrant acidity and an impressively long, haunting finish. Incredibly elegant, silky texture, crystalline purity, finished very Burgundian. Really, a perfect hybrid of aged Bordeaux and Burgundy. As a friend put it, “somehow both aged and ageless.” No question the best 50+ year old bottle I’ve been fortunate to try. Certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity, though I hope to track down another bottle someday. You’d never guess this was 105 years old.
I’ve got a friend who’s a wine producer from Rioja that has access to old vintages from deep cellars around the region. It’s perfect provenance, plus he’s really done deep reasearch with old timers from the region. He told me that most of these wines are so long lived because they would just add crazy amounts of sulfites at all stages of winemaking, plus the really long aging in barrels. I’ve had various bottles of CVNE Viña Real from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s that just seem ageless.
I had this discussion with Raul Perez, yes the producer from Bierzo, who was gracious enough to open some old stuff he had at home. I agree that at a certain point in the aging curve, most old Rioja’s start to show an aged Old Bordeaux profile. I vividly remember him opening a 1949 Lynch Bages next to a few Paterninas from the 1920s, and a few Berberanas.
As always I think provenance is key. I’ve sourced most of my stuff directly from cellars in Rioja.
The big houses used to send barrels up to Madrid and have their wines bottled there. They would suffer a bit, but I think most of the damage came from leaving the bottles in less than ideal conditions at shops, or liqour stores as was common in Spain. After reading José Peñín book about his life recently, it’s quite obvious why there are so many dead bottles out there.
I remember buying some Ygay Gran Reserva Especial from 1968 and 1978 as recently as the early 2000’s. They had been released in the mid or late 90s, and just sat there for a few years. I think I paid $40 USD back then, a steal! They turned out good, still have some left.
Also, I’ll post the translated text my friend Oscar from Rioja sent me regarding why these wines age for such a long time :
On the subject of Viña Real 1954. In those days, many of these wines were bought as bulk wines in certain special villages. Not everything was produced or made from the company’s own vineyards. CVNE had hardly any vineyards until recently.
I analyzed a few wines to send to Japan, where they required us to analyze almost everything, and normally too much sulfur was added, more than now. There were no controls or limits like there are now. It was used to protect bulk sales, and normally these old wines have little free sulfur dioxide, but the total is almost always above 100 mg per liter. Long aging, continuous racking, it was used more than it is now.
Today, we believe that it is one of the additives that most negatively affects wine, it burns it a lot, and we are looking for more natural and less aggressive alternatives that are working for us.
As a lover of Rioja and old wines in general, this is fascinating stuff and a great conversation, as I’d hoped it would be. Appreciate everyone chiming in with their thoughts!
