Gran Reserva Imperial
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 10 to 30 years from the vintage release, though outstanding vintages can continue to evolve beautifully for 40 years or more.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Classic Spanish roasted lamb (cordero asado), grilled venison or other wild game, and well-aged Manchego cheese.
✨ Technical Specifications
First created in the 1920s, CVNE's 'Imperial' is one of Spain's most illustrious wine icons, originally named after a special 'imperial pint' bottle produced for the British market. This Gran Reserva is only made in exceptional vintages, sourced from low-yielding, bush-trained old vines in the Rioja Alta sub-region, particularly around the village of Villalba. The blend is anchored by Tempranillo, with small additions of Graciano and Mazuelo. It is aged for at least two years in French and American oak casks followed by an extended period of bottle aging in CVNE's historic Eiffel-designed cellars in Haro. The result is a masterclass in traditional Rioja: a wine of incredible elegance, showing complex layers of dried forest fruits, leather, sweet spices, and cigar box, underpinned by a fine, mineral-etched acidity.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1879 in Haro's iconic Barrio de la Estación by brothers Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa, Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (CVNE) stands as an architectural and viticultural pillar of DOCa Rioja. Still stewarded by fifth-generation descendants under CEO Víctor Urrutia, the historic house commands premier vineyard parcels across Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, rooted primarily in calcareous clay and alluvial gravel under an Atlantic-moderated continental climate. CVNE has historically driven technical modernizations, incorporating gravity-flow winemaking, Eiffel-engineered cellars, and early concrete fermentation vats alongside classical oak maturation. Viticulture emphasizes environmental stewardship, evidenced by active membership in International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA). The house crafts legendary expressions, from the flagship Imperial Gran Reserva and the singular Real de Asúa to pioneering whites such as Viña Real Blanco, Monopole Clásico, and the scarce Corona Gran Reserva, reflecting balance, age-worthiness, and traditional Spanish winemaking precision.
🍇 Grapes
Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo