Cune "Imperial Gran Reserva" Rioja, Spain 2017

FROM RARE WINE CO.:

THE WINE: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano y Mazuelo. Our finest Rioja Alta vineyards are destined for the production of Imperial Gran Reserva, the plots from which the grapes are harvested are located between 550 and 650 m of altitude with a climate of Atlantic and continental influence. The vines are bush trained, dry farmed and the plots are small. The soils are clay with areas of river pebbles, are low in organic matter and are situated on gentle south facing slopes.

Imperial Gran Reserva is an iconic Rioja and Spanish wine. It is only made when harvests are exceptional. This wine is designed to last and improve over time.

THE PRODUCER: CUNE is among Rioja’s most venerable houses, founded in 1879 as Compañia Vinicola del Norte de España—abbreviated as C.V.N.E. or CUNE—by brothers Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa of Bilbao. And it remains in family hands to this day. Like other early bodegas, CUNE had French connections—to Champagne producers in Reims as well as to the Cognac house Remy Martin. From the beginning it was based in Haro’s famed Barrio de la Estación, taking advantage of the railway line as a convenient means of transporting their wines.