- 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
95
Date
2026-07-17
"This shows a concentrated nose of dark fruit with a touch of violets. The palate is balanced, with fresh fruit alongside concentration and depth, framed by a firmer structure and chalky tannins. The fruit is more restrained with more imposing tannins."
Jancis Robinson
Score
17.5+
Date
2025-08-11
"Even disregarding that this is a vintage with a difficult reputation, this is a beautiful wine. Terracotta dust on the nose. And jasmine. Heady and dusty like a hot still day in summer. Orange blossom and orange peel, kumquat, citrus-pith bitterness and a bit of black olive but lots of dark-red tannic sweetness in the mid palate. Tannins like heavy tapestry: complex, tightly woven, dense but lustrous with beauty. Robust but pulsing with openness and warmth. So already welcoming that I would want to buy two cases, to drink a bottle every year from now until my dotage. (TC)"
REVIEWS FROM PAST VINTAGES
2018
James Suckling
Score
97
Date
2026-07-17
"This is perfumed, with violets, graphite and dried flowers. Elegant and precise, with a tender expression of fruit and finely etched chalky tannins. Juicy and vibrant, yet long and absorbing, with a fresh approachable side balanced by a sense of nerve and tension."
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."
2018
Jancis Robinson
Score
17.5
Date
2026-03-10
"Tasted blind. A clearly evolved and very classic style, with notes of mocha, tobacco, clove and vanilla. The nose shows a beautifully developed aromatic complexity. On the palate, the wine remains well structured, with clear potential for further ageing. Lively, acidic cherry notes bring freshness through the mid palate. A wine of very good quality, combining maturity with balance and poise. (FC)"