2016 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (4/2/2023)
‘Why in the name in the name of God did you open this so young’? you ask. Fair question. I’ve only had the basic Crianza never the GR or even the reserve for that matter, so I wanted to gauge the house style etc. As expected and no surprise, dominated by its 24 mos of French and American oak elevage, and for sure some tannins as well. Yet, I still think it was the worth the cork pull, as the quality of the raw material was obvious to even my yak palate. Im not sure if it was the 16 vintage, but the main core the wine felt more elegant than my other usual GR’s - Prado Enea, Ygay, LRA, and RLH. Perhaps its the altitude of the vines at 550 to 650 meters according to the CVNE website. Ok, enjoyable and educational experience, now go to sleep little one….
Although not in the same league as Dale’s Imperial GR, the 2016 Vina Real ‘crianza’ [Rioja] is a wonderful classic worthy of exploration too. There were five (!) bottling runs of this huge production (90k cases) offering, which tends to be a blend of long time contract vineyards (30 years!) and some estate fruit. All are sourced from plots around Laguardia and Elciego, and for what it’s worth the shimmering DOC regulador label notes that my example was #596340, suggesting it was in the mid/late bottling cycle. The nose is classic balsalmic, resin, soy with a palate that is bright, juicy with great character for a modestly priced effort. I do think the ‘Oro’ level reserva is better but in good vintages the crianza can be very good…but is variable. To wit I’ve had poor luck with the 2010. and I no longer purchase the affiliated ‘signature script’ CVNE bottlings, which are broadly distributed levels. It’s always a good question of whether a Bordeaux stem or a Burgundy one is better to enjoy Rioja, but in this case, considering the youth, I went with the former on both nights. This crianza shows fine acidity, medium body, and tropical coconut elements. The label notes 14.5% abv, but does not feel heavy, and for Bordeaux fans, this is low on the earth / scorch / saddle aspects. The fruit leans red.
It might be that the only way to safely acquire these bottlings is to pay up and buy on release from retailers who have the whole CVNE lineup, which is a cue that they are committed to the bodega - and proper storage - versus transactional price point vendors. I used to get a box of CVNE bottlings sent out each year from PJ’s in NYC^, but stopped doing any/all mail order years ago, so have not figured this problem out. These are differentiated, high quality blends (although mostly tempranillo) that merit more attention from WB’s. Easy A- on my card.
^ I can’t prove it, but those bottles feel better than others sourced from a half dozen other vendors. This is my impression over a couple of decades.
Arv, I love the picture and thanks for the reminder / info about the Crianza, such a reliable little work horse of a red. Good to know about the various bottlings and try to purchase the early run. Coincidentally, a friend opened the 12 CVNE GR Imperial which was miles ahead in terms of being open for early enjoyment in compared to the 16 - which might be destined for greatness, its just going to take a long time to get there.
