1981 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  1/13/2023 - chbeaumont wrote: 94 Points

  Retains good colour; well measured oak, vanilla, fruit, berried spices; harmonious & effortlessly balanced, complex; classy & finessed finish. All the elements to age further.

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  5/29/2019 - AMRS Likes this wine: 95 Points

  The nose kicks the minute you pour this one to the glass, with flowers, red fruit and later on vegetable soup and earth. What a nose, that just kept evolving for 30 min. the palate started mute, but after 10 minutes the concert started. My friend that tasted blind thought it was a Burg, but when I told him Rioja - he said vintage 2000 or similar... The other tasters (chefs in the wine bar) were 10 years younger than this juvenile bottles :). So the palate evolved to be a sliky red fruit harmony, with light mineral and spice, and such great acidity to make it long and fulfilling. This is what wine is all about for me. A rare bottle of such joy. Did it reach peak? I guess so, but it has 15-20 years to stay there probably. Drink now-2040.

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  4/21/2019 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine: 91 Points

  On open...Coffee, dried candied red fruit, musty old house, gunpowder, fireworks, smooth, faint acid, but no tannins or oak. Red orange color, bricked at the edges.
  At 60 min, coffee has faded but the gunpowder fireworks note remains. Faint tannins appear, tart cherries, the oldness has disappeared bringing out a fresh maturity of tertiary notes
  This is everything an old wine should be....me, I think I like em just a slight bit younger, more in the 20-30 year range. This is fun learning.

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  1/25/2015 - kevin h wrote: 92 Points

  Complex Gran Reserva with good fruit and mocha dominated nose. Bright red fruits, coffee and chocolate notes, complex and long. Many years ahead of it still.

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  11/26/2014 - Los 12 Glotones Likes this wine: 93 Points

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  Els12golafres Wine Tasting Group: http://vinosclasicos.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/imperial-1981-gran-reserva.html
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  De color rubí rojizo de capa media-alta, oscuro, extraído. Reflejos rojizos y ambarinos, brillante, límpido, sin asomo de precipitados. Borde amplio, anaranjado.
  
  Un Imperial de los grandes, de los que merece su nombre. Se muestra muy afinado en estos momentos. Realiza un despliegue inicial de impresión. Hay todo tipo de apuntes tostados y ahumados de calidad (café recién molido, manteca de cacao, nuez moscada) del todo integrados a las maderas más elegantes que podamos encontrar. Un buqué complejo, lleno de detalles, con ese fondo de delicada reducción en el que se entremezcla el cuero, las hebras de tabaco Virginia y la pureza de una fruta roja reducida de escándalo, con un matiz de laurel y endrinas en licor. Todo esto mantiene un punto vaporoso elegantísimo.
  
  En boca es lleno, vivo, sabroso, con una cantidad desbordante de fruta fresca. Maduro y jugoso, especiado, sacando un marcado matiz de dulcedumbre que colisiona con el mandoble de acidez. No hay unidad entre lo olido y lo bebido, pero es que ni falta hace!! Hay equilibrio y mucha suavidad. Gran vino, de enorme disfrute, que cumple con todas las expectativas. La impresión es que va a tener un largo recorrido en botella. Quién pueda que espere pero no va ser fácil...
  
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  85% tempranillo, 10% graciano, 5% mazuelo - 13% vol.
  Permanece durante 12 meses en depósitos para finalizar la fermentación maloláctica y reposar antes de pasar a criarse en madera. El vino madura durante 36 meses en barricas semi-nuevas de 225 litros, 70% de roble americano y 30% francés. Según la cosecha se deja descansar entre 36 y 60 meses en los botelleros de los calados de la bodega antes de ser comercializado a finales de la década de los 80. Reencorchado cada 20 años.
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