CVNE, Viña Real Rioja Gran Reserva, 2019 - Magnum
CVNE, Viña Real Rioja Gran Reserva, 2019 - Magnum
- 150cl
- 13.9%
- Red Still
- Tempranillo, Graciano
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Optimal drinking window: 2026 - 2042
Est. delivery in February, 2027
Viña Real Gran Reserva is CVNE's powerhouse, made at its striking cylindrical bodega just outside Logroño, and the 2019 is a particularly fine vintage to carry the flag. Built mainly from Tempranillo with a splash of Graciano, it spends years in American and French oak followed by extended bottle ageing before release, exactly as Gran Reserva rules demand. The result is a wine of old-school poise: savoury, structured, utterly unhurried.
“Viña Real represents the tradition of the Rioja Alavesa, with a more fleshy, roundness and powerful profile. This means, Viña Real is not the small brother of anyone. He is a big brother by himself.”
Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
This is Rioja as it was meant to be understood, patient winemaking rewarding patient drinkers. It is ready to drink now with something slow-cooked, or let it sit until 2038 for those who enjoy watching a wine grow old gracefully.
What the critics say:
"The 2019 Viña Real Gran Reserva, which wears the subtitle Selección Especial, was produced with grapes from vineyards in the villages of Laguardia, Elciego and Labastida, picked between September 23rd and October 12th, mostly Tempranillo with 5% Graciano. Moved by gravity to the cellar, the grapes fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in barrels for 24 months and no less than 36 months in bottle. This feels super harmonious, with the elements of this wine—structure, power, fine tannins, some developed aromas of sous-bois and perhaps olives and a touch of graphite—coming through as mineral and deep. It's a textbook Viña Real Gran Reserva and a worthy follow-up to the extraordinary 2018. It comes in at 13.9% alcohol, with a pH of 3.55 and 5.8 grams of acidity. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2022. They will not make this wine in 2023, but the following years will be 2020, 2021 and 2022."
"Pristine and precise on the nose with fresh dark cherries and wet stones, this has medium body and evenly packed fruit. Effortless. Taut and firm with very good structure and etched, mineral-driven tannins. A little introverted at the moment, but it will shine. Better from 2028."
The Viña Real vineyards sit on the clay-limestone soils of Rioja Alavesa, at altitudes that help retain acidity despite the region's warm summers. This cooler, higher terrain gives the fruit its characteristic freshness and the tannic structure that lets Gran Reserva wines age for decades. The Atlantic influence from the north tempers the Mediterranean heat, producing grapes with both ripeness and restraint.
Rioja DOCa is Spain's oldest and most prestigious appellation, divided into three sub-zones: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Gran Reserva is the top of its ageing hierarchy, requiring a minimum of five years before release with at least two in oak and two in bottle, though serious producers like CVNE go well beyond the minimum. It is a category built on patience, standing in deliberate contrast to the fruit-forward, oak-light styles now fashionable elsewhere in Spain.
The 2019 vintage in Rioja delivered what many producers had been hoping for after a string of challenging years. The growing season brought well-timed rainfall in spring followed by warm, dry conditions through summer and harvest, allowing grapes to ripen steadily without the stress that marked some recent vintages. Harvest began in late September under ideal conditions, with producers able to pick at optimal ripeness levels across both Tempranillo and the supporting cast of Garnacha and Graciano.
What emerged were wines with immediate charm but serious underlying structure – Tempranillo showing rich, dark fruit with firm tannins that promise good ageing potential, while Garnacha contributed its typical spicy warmth without the overripeness that sometimes mars warmer years. The quality is consistently high across all price levels, from young wines through to the gran reservas that will define this vintage's reputation. Most 2019 Riojas are drinking beautifully now, particularly the joven and crianza bottlings, whilst the reservas and gran reservas should reward patience until 2030 and beyond.
OUR GROWERS
CVNE
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