Imperial Gran Reserva
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Classic roast lamb, slow-cooked game meats such as venison, and aged Manchego cheese.
✨ Technical Specifications
First created in the 1920s and named after a special bottling for the English market in 'Imperial pint' measures, CVNE's Imperial Gran Reserva is a legendary benchmark of traditional Rioja. Sourced from estate-owned vineyards in Rioja Alta, particularly around Villalba and Haro, the wine is a classic blend dominated by Tempranillo, complemented by Graciano and Mazuelo. The grapes are harvested by hand and fermented in French oak vats before undergoing an extensive aging regimen of at least two years in French and American oak casks, followed by several years of refinement in the bottle. This painstaking process yields a wine of immense complexity, characterized by notes of dried forest fruits, leather, sweet spices, and tobacco, supported by a seamless, velvety structure.
🍾 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