The wine is deep garnet in colour with bluish hints at the rim. On the nose interesting aromas of wild berries and liquorice merge beautifully with notes of toffee, tobacco and undergrowth from barrel ageing. The palate reveals a wine characterised by its elegance, depth of flavour and fine, velvety tannins. The finish is long and complex.

The grapes come from our best and oldest vineyards around Villalba, Briones & Torremontalbo, which are over 40 years old. Rigorous work in the vineyard followed by hand harvesting into 20kg boxes with exhaustive selection in the field ensured the collection of great quality grapes.

This vintage year takes us back to La Rioja of old days, with heavy frosts throughout winter, snow and abundant precipitation. Spring was also cold and wet followed by a warm summer but without excessive temperatures and resulting in good ripening of the grapes. These conditions provided a long, slow ripening period which enabled the production of great, intense wines, with medium colour and alcohol levels and good acidity. The 2018 harvest of Imperial began at CVNE on October 8th and finished on October 26th with a good forecast.

Before starting the alcoholic fermentation, the bunches were cooled down and kept at a low temperature for some hours. The fermentation took place in French oak vats. After its second fermentation, the wine was then aged in both American and French oak casks for two years, followed by another two years in bottle prior to release into market.

C.V.N.E., or to give it its full name, Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España (The Northern Spanish Wine Company) was established on the 24th of March 1879 in Haro, Rioja. Set up by two brothers, Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa, their aim was to capitalise on the flourishing new trade in wine.

C.V.N.E. is based in Haro's traditional neighbourhood of the train station, in the heart of the Rioja wine region. Historically, some of the oldest wineries of Rioja Alta established themselves here in order to benefit from the ease of transport via rail to the port of Bilbao, the most efficient form of transport in those days.

By 1900, the winery had an extraordinary ageing capacity of 80,000 bottles, which was most unusual at the time, as most wineries sold their wines as soon as possible.

C.V.N.E. is still controlled by the direct descendants of the founding family. Now in its fifth generation, the company has been quoted on the Madrid stock exchange since 1997.

C.V.N.E. farms half of its grape crush. The remainder is purchased from long term growers. With three wineries in the region; Cune, Viña Real and Contino the winemakers have control over quality from vineyard to bottle.

A classic match to Roast Lamb.