- 85% Tempranillo, combined 10% Graciano & Mazuelo
- From their best estate vineyards in Rioja Alta
- 40-year-old bush vines
- Aged for 24 months in new French & American oak barrels
- Aged an additional 36 months in bottle before release
Info
Producer:
Vintage:
2017
Country:
Spain
Region:
La Rioja
Appellation:
Rioja
Variety:
Tempranillo
Color:
Red
Sizes Available
Full Bottle | ES-CUN-32-17 | 6/750ml |
Press & Reviews
James Suckling
Score
97
Date
2023-04-11
REVIEWS FROM PAST VINTAGES
2018
James Suckling
Score
96
Date
2024-08-07
"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."
2018
Decanter
Score
95
Date
2025-03-06
"Mouthwatering freshness supported by a firm acid verve and chalky tannins hold the core of prune, blackberry and black cherry with strrenth and ease. Powdery graphite, dark chocolate shavings, liquorice root, mocha and chcocolate mousse build layers of broody complexity. 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. Fermentation with native yeasts was followed by malolactic in concrete vats, then the wine was aged for two years in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels, new and second-use, with racking every eight months, and further ageing in bottle before release. A wine that, still teasingly coiled, has a long time ahead of it."
2018
Wine Advocate
Score
95+
Date
2024-02-29
"The 2018 Imperial Gran Reserva was cropped from a year with the weather from yesteryear, a cold winter with frost, snow and abundant rain, a cool spring and mild summer that resulted in a long vegetative cycle of 180 days and a late harvest between October 8th and 26th. 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. It was a smaller crop, and they produced 56,000 bottles. It was bottled in July 2021."
2016
James Suckling
Score
98
Date
2022-05-26
2016
Decanter
Score
95
Date
2023-02-28
2016
John Gilman
Score
95+
Date
2022-03-01
2016
Wine Advocate
Score
95
Date
2022-07-18
2016
Wine Spectator
Score
93
Date
2022-05-25
2015
James Suckling
Score
97
Date
2021-11-23
2015
Vinous
Score
95
Date
2021-07-16
2014
John Gilman
Score
94+
Date
[no Date]
2014
Vinous
Score
94
Date
2020-04-20
2014
Wine Advocate
Score
94
Date
2020-10-30