The Viña Real brand was established in 1920 by CVNE (pronounced coo-nay). Viña Real is out of the Rioja Alavesa region of Rioja, as opposed to CVNE's main label out of Rioja Alta. The name of the parent winery is actually an acronym that stands for Compañia Vinicola del Norte de España. It was founded in 1879 in Haro, Rioja and has been a leader in progressive winemaking and modernization since its inception. I've reviewed three wine's by CVNE's main label this month.
This whole month is dedicated to the red wines of Rioja, and three of them are from CVNE's Viña Real. I started with their 2013 Crianza, then moved on to their 2013 Reserva, and here I am with their 2010 Gran Reserva. Because I will be reviewing so many wines this month, I'm going to keep the reviews short and sweet.
The 2010 Gran Reserva is 95% and 5% Graciano, all hand harvested from their better vineyards in the Rioja Alavesa region of Rioja. Fermentation occurs in temperature controlled vats, which frequent dropping of the juice over the skins for more extraction. It's placed in French and American oak for malolactic fermentation, then manually racked. Time in oak is not specified, but after oak aging and before bottling it's clarified with egg whites.
The color of the wine is garnet. It kicks up quite the complex nose with aromas of wet cedar, cooked blackberries, grape jelly, eucalyptus, licorice, black olive, and leather. One of those wines I could just smell all night. On the palate it's medium bodied with a rich mouthfeel, soft tannin and mellowed acidity to create an impressively balanced elegance. There's flavors of tomato, cilantro, onion... shit... wait... I'm eating chips and salsa... hold up, let me cleanse my palate. Okay, there's flavors of blackberries, graphite, black olives, tobacco and mocha. It finishes super smooth with long lasting flavors of blackberries, graphite, and black olives.
DAAAAAAMN! This is gorgeous. It's gorgeous. And for $47 I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5 between Recommended and Highly Recommended.
QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $47
The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
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