Collectors! Afficionados! Lovers of all things fine and Spanish and wine! Today is your day to swoop in and snag a GRAN RESERVA from the legendary C.V.N.E.!!

$129 SRP. $74 here. $55 OFF. And before you ask if we made a typo… WE DIDN’T!!!

The roll call of scores is long and impresive. 96 Points from Suckling. 95+ from Wine Advocate. 95 from Decanter. 95 from Master of Wine Tim Atkin. 94 from Wine Spectator.

So many major publications at 94 or above, all stacked up, all for THIS wine!!! Not surprising as it is CVNE’s FLAGSHIP wine.

Currently the wine world is OBSESSED with cool-vintage Rioja. Top producers are ranking cool years alongside the all-time greats. The entire critical conversation right now is about elegance, freshness, and structure over fruit-bomb ripeness. The 2018 Imperial was built EXACTLY for this moment. Wine Advocate called the 2018 growing season “the weather from yesteryear.” In a decade of warm punchy Riojas, 2018 went the other way. Tim Atkin, Master of Wine says ”it will still be going strong in two decades’ time.”

María Larrea is the 5th head winemaker in CVNE’s 140-year history. CVNE is the ONLY Spanish winery to ever earn Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine of the Year.

Jancis Robinson put them in “the Rioja aristocracy.”

Wine Advocate called them “one of the great bodegas not only of Rioja, but of the whole of Spain.”

2018 was a smaller crop. All estate fruit above 550 meters, bush-trained vines over 40 years old. CVNE’s best vineyards in Rioja Alta provide the fruit for Imperial Gran Reserva. 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo in 2018, from Villalba and Torremontalbo, very close to the Sierra de Toloño. Grapes are hand harvested with double selection passes, (TRANSLATION…only the best makes it into the Imperial Gran Reserva).

As mentioned earlier, cooler Rioja’s are trending impart because they offer more freshness and brightness to the overall blend, but with CVNE they also go to greater lengths to ensure their wines have these bright characteristics. Larrea emphasises how important Graciano and Mazuelo are in the face of climate change. Mazuelo (also known as Carignan/Cariñena) provides structure and color, while Graciano contributes acidity and aromatic complexity. Just what the Rioja needs!

James Suckling wrote “So juicy and firm… all woven in a fine-grained form, which clearly shows aging potential. Very long finish.”

Wine Advocate wrote “Very complete, fresh and vibrant, with more depth and tannin… should develop nicely in bottle.”

We loved the concentrated dark cherry and dense inky plum packed onto the nose, cedar threading underneath with a fine hit of wet slate. The palate is tightly wound and benefits from a decant, but will reveal deep black fruit and morello cherry, crushed earth, dried sage and anise, with a crisp snapping acid line holding the whole structure together. The finish doesn’t wrap up. It just keeps going and going and going. Just like the energizer bunny! We all looked at each other, and it was a BIG YEP!

…. And then we started to think about food…The brightness of this wine will take on roasted lamb, or bone-in ribeye with chimichurri. The acidity handles the fat, the cedar and earth notes play off the char. Alternatively, our vegetarians were like…no we were thinking Mushroom and Lentil Ragu over Pappardelle with Manchego shavings.

This really is an insane value, especially knowing that these wines can age for decades and collectors snatch them up quickly.

JUST $74. $55 OFF A wall of 95s… Spain’s only Wine Spectator #1 bodega, the 5th winemaker in 140 years, and a throwback vintage built to last 20 years.

This is the real deal. A straight up CLASSIC from one of Rioja’s best ever. If you need more convincing, there’s no hope…

96 Points - James Suckling - ”Fresh blackberries, plums, smoked spices, graphite and cocoa powder. So juicy and firm, with fresh, abundant tannins coming from the fruit and spicy oak, but all woven in a fine-grained form, which clearly shows aging potential. Medium- to full-bodied with a very long finish. Try after 2026.”

95+ Points - Wine Advocate - ”It has similar parameters to the 2017 I tasted next to it, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.55 and 6.03 grams of acidity, but it shows fresher. It feels very complete, fresh and vibrant, with more depth and tannin. It’s still quite young and should develop nicely in bottle with that extra kick from the cooler year.”

95 Points - Decanter - ”Mouthwatering freshness supported by a firm acid verve and chalky tannins hold the core of prune, blackberry and black cherry with strength and ease. Powdery graphite, dark chocolate shavings, liquorice root, mocha and chocolate mousse build layers of broody complexity. A wine that, still teasingly coiled, has a long time ahead of it.”

95 Points - Tim Atkin, Master of Wine - ”One of the last vintages of Imperial’s Gran Reserve to use 20% American oak, this a focused, age-worthy wine that will still be going strong in two decades’ time. Featuring Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, it’s a serious, firm, yet very well balanced red with lots of acidity, muscular tannins, toasty oak and layers of blueberry and black cherry fruit.”

94 Points - Wine Spectator - ”A lovely, harmonious red, with a lush quality to the chopped mulberry and cherry fruit that’s trimmed nicely by plum skin acidity and fine-grained, sinewy tannins. Violet, licorice, iron, olive and herb details add complexity and appeal, echoing on the vibrant finish. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2038.”