Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Deep Ruby, aromas of sweet red and black fruits with pepper spice and oak. 4 grape blend from some of CVNE's best vineyards in the Rioja Alta (85% Tempranillo, rest Garnacha, Mazuelo & Graciano), aged in both French and American oak for 24 months. On the palate flavors of blackberry and currants with licorice, vanilla, tobacco & toasty oak tones. Soft full ripe tannins, wonderful balance, lively acidity on a long finish ending with an earthy mineral character. Very nice! — 3 days ago

Sean Grullon

9.3

Happy Easter! Uses a lot of new French oak, and it shows but it’s well-integrated. It tastes like a marriage between a California Cabernet and a classic rioja, modern in style but very good. Intense concentration, silky tannins on the palate with medium+ acidity. chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, spice, a bit of earth, and rich dark fruit that’s nearly jammy but not quite. — 10 days ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.3

Medium garnet , quite pronounced terracotta , garnet rim . This is more closed on the nose , slightly darker , less fruited , more tobacco , earthy , iodine , mineral, dry spices . On the palate more intensity with fresher acidity and grippy tannin . Darker fruits , with cherry , blackcurrant , but with a strong seaside , oyster shell componente . Good length and very elegant , slightly tannic finish . This is quite serious and restrained, more complete and complex than the 2011. Needs a bit of time to open, probably better in a 3-5 years and will show well for a further 5-10. From magnum . — a month ago

Jay Kline

9.2

This is the Gran Reserva “Edición Limitada”.

Presented double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine pours a garnet color with a transparent core and some significant rim variation; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and desiccated red and black fruits: cherries and raspberries with some red plum, old leather, old cedar chest, a mix of cool and warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory.

Initial conclusions: this could be Sangiovese, Aglianico, or Cabernet Sauvignon (and based blends) from Italy, France or the United States. With the fruits and non-fruits presenting the way they were, the use of some new small format oak, throupled with the significant structure despite what was obvious age (I was thinking 40+ years), I went with Sangiovese from Italy, from Tuscany, from Chianti Classico, Riserva level from a modern leaning producer like Antinori, 1985. Damn…Tempranillo didn’t even cross my mind. I didn’t think the color was dark enough and I didn’t really get American oak the way I would expect with Rioja…but here we are. Now that I think about it, Antinori may not have using barrique back then. Perhaps I was trying to be too be too clever; I’ll learn from this. Regardless, I thought this was freaking delicious and showing really well! Fully mature but should enjoy this stage for the next ten years. Drink now through 2033. — 2 days ago

A. R.

9.1

Classic, full bodied and structured GR rioja. High acid, still some unresolved tannin. Food wine. — 24 days ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.1

Primarily Tempranillo with some Graciano and Mazuelo blended in. Deep ruby color with a garnet rim. Intense black fruit aromas, leather and baking spices. Flavors of blackberry, black plum, baker’s chocolate, cinnamon and tobacco. Nice cedar, dill and vanilla notes on the long and lasting finish. Smooth and very well rounded tannins. Great balance of oak, acidity and alcohol. Full bodied. Fresh, well structured and complex. — a month ago

romo

8.9

Called Rioja. Super-dill coconut give-away. — 3 days ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Very light and classy. Orange peel, roses, plum, tangy violet. Intense but light and a very pure. Long finish. Excellent (bottle pictured from library, not the one I drank) — 5 days ago

with Chris, Alec and 1 other

David White

9.3

Nice cherry ruby red colour with cherries and red fruit on the nose, silky balance of tannins on palate with minerality leading to a long satisfying finish
Excellent example of good old world wine making — 4 days ago

Noah Ross

9.0

Sight: Completely opaque, blood red, slight tawny. On nose: fruit forward, tobacco. On mouth: very smooth, full bodied, was difficult to taste fruits but strong oak and earthy presence. Might not have been at correct temperature. — 13 days ago