TN: 2005 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva

WINE TALK
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  • 2005 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (6/22/2018)
    With family at dinner in Washington DC after my uncle’s unveiling. This was one of his wines. Storage in an apartment in a high rise in a closet without temperature control, but we have no idea when he bought it. There was a MacArthur Sale sticker on the back. Popped, decanted and poured. Followed for not too long because there were lots of us sharing it.

I really liked this wine. There was roasted meat with some smokiness and great breadth. Dark brooding red fruit. No real sign of age yet. Not a baby but hardly mature. I had a 45 year old one a few years ago that was perfect, so this has plenty of time left in it. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks. Those can be wonderful wines.

FYI, it was a WS wine of the year in 2013, so presumably it was released then or in 2012.

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WS wine of the year was the 2004 vintage.

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Exactly. And those of us who knew better were quite pleased that they selected the lesser year. (But also a very good one.)

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Sorry, I think the 05 was on the WS 100. That’s why I said “a wine of the year.” I just saw a reference when I looked up the wine.

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The 2004 was the WOTY.

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I just found some 1970 CVNE Imperial (apparently there was no riserva or GR designation that year). The '70 Vina Real was one of the best Rioja’s I’ve ever had.

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Great wine if it’s a good bottle.

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The 70 Imperial is even better than the VR. With all the usual storage caveats of course.

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Thanks for the tasting note!!!

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We drank half a bottle of the 2005 CVNE Imperial Reserva [Rioja] last night - not the GR - and I thought it was excellent. I got a little wood on the nose, but it was complex, interesting on the palate. Sandalwood, nutmeg, red berry fruit. It felt like a mature Pichon Lalande to me, actually - one whose tannins had all resolved into silkiness. It’s wine with great texture. I’d give this an A, it’s just a very well balanced wine, that would appeal to both traditionalists and modernists.