| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | Spain > Rioja |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This is very ripe with blackberries, dried fruit, toasted oak and black licorice on the nose. Full-bodied with ultra-fine, linear tannins and a racy, refined finish. This has fantastic structure and length. It goes on for minutes. It needs time to open and refine even more. One of the best Imperiale Gran Reservas in a very long time. Drink after 2023.
Produced in CVNE’s bodega within a bodega, entirely dedicated to Imperial, this is a superb Gran Reserva that combines Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. Rich, dense and layered, with fine new French and American oak, wonderful focus, savoury tannins and the depth and concentration to age for a decade or more.
Glistening ruby in colour, the nose is quintessential Rioja with a modern twist, blending sweet spices, cocoa and liquorice with polished, fine red and black fruits and more subtle, savoury spice from the touch of French oak. This glossy fruit follows on the palate, matching the layers of spice and allowing subtle notes of game and leather to add complexity rather than dominate the fruit profile. This vintage is a succulent one, with melting tannins and a cashmere texture making for a wine that is delicious to drink now. Spicy, fleshy and intense to the finish, this is a very fine effort, one that will greatly appeal to lovers of fine Rioja. Drink now or over the coming 10+ years.
The 2015 Imperial Gran Reserva is crafted from a constellation of eighty-five percent Tempranillo, ten percent Graciano and five percent Mazuelo this year. Like the Contino Gran Reserva, this wine tips the scales at fourteen percent alcohol in 2015 and offers up a pure, nascently complex and sappy nose of black raspberries, black cherries, Cuban cigar wrapper, a lovely base of soil tones, toasted coconut, a touch of cedar, fresh nutmeg and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, refined, deep and full, with a great core of fruit, impeccable focus and balance, ripe, firm tannins and a long, tangy and nascently complex finish. This is going to be an absolutely superb vintage of Imperial Gran Reserva, but it is even younger than the Viña Real Gran Reserva out of the blocks and will need a bit more cellaring to soften up. In due course, it is going to be a stunning wine! (Drink between 2031-2080)
