Winemaker Notes
Garnet color with reddish notes. In terms of aroma, there is a great balance between the ripe black fruit and the aromas from its time in the barrel, such as vanilla, toffee, tobacco leaves, etc. On the palate it shows a smoothness and gentleness that gives us a length with an aftertaste of balsamic and fruity notes. It is a round wine, with a pleasant tannin that allows us a very versatile pairing due to its balance.
Recommended with all Mediterranean dishes.
Blend: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Spicy, savoury and toasty, displaying aromas of dried herbs, cloves and cocoa, some dried black fruits notes. Very long finish.
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James Suckling
Spices, chocolate, vanilla and lots of vibrant, youthful plums, cherries and berries. A medium-bodied, very approachable Rioja with juicy fruit and fine tannins that make you want to drink a bottle. Such a pleasing, well-made and youthful gran reserva, Drink now or hold.
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Vinous
The 2018 Gran Reserva Cune is 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo from Rioja Alta, aged up to 24 months in American and French oak barrels. Aromas of plum and blackberry intermingle with herbal and oaky notes. Dry, creamy and chalky on the palate, it offers a fairly compact mouthfeel. This red wine presents a modern twist on the fruit-forward style, resembling more of a New World red than a classic Rioja.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cune Gran Reserva was produced with grapes picked between the 8th and 26th of October, quite late into the season, reflecting a cooler year with frost and snow and a mild summer. The vegetative cycle was long, 180 days, and the final blend was 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo or Cariñena, mostly from their 70 hectares in Torremontalbo. The grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and concrete after a 24-hour cold soak, and the wine matured in French and American oak barrels for 24 months. They bottled the wine with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and 5.76 grams of acidity. It has spicy notes from the oak, vanilla and coconut, and is aromatic and expressive, clean, with a classic Gran Reserve profile.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blend of mostly Tempranillo with Graciano and Mazuelo, the 2018 Cune Gran Reserva is a reflection of the market’s demand for more fruit, less oak. Freshness is paramount and present, with the tannins well-behaved and not in the way of the acidity. Refreshing layers of medium-bodied, ripe cherry benefits from 24 months in French and American oak and three years in bottle, coming together in a seamless whole that’s structured.
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Wine Spectator
A savory red, leading with smoke and espresso notes before a plushly textured mix of black cherry, Kalamata olive and black tea pushes through. Sinewy tannins firm the fresh, spiced finish. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo.
Cvne, is situated in Rioja in the traditional neighborhood of the station, where the oldest wineries of Rioja Alta established themselves, for the main reason of transporting their goods to the port of Bilbao.
In 1879, two brothers decided to set up a business in the recently flourishing trade of the wine business. C.V.N.E., Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España (The Northern Spanish Wine Company) or la Cuné, as it is commonly known in Haro, was created. This cellar still reflects the origins of the company and is kept in the traditional neighborhood of the Haro station.
The Cune winery in Haro, is made up of a group of buildings, mostly from the 19th century and arranged around a courtyard surrounded by pavilions for the purpose of wine production, aging, and bottling.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.