Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The iconic Rioja Alavesa red 2014 Viña Real Gran Reserva was produced with grapes from their own vineyards in the villages of Laguardia and Labastida, mostly Tempranillo with 5% Graciano fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured in new and second use barriques for 24 months. As with the Imperial Gran Reserva, I found great balance and elegance here, transcending the character of the year. It's a little shy and takes time to show aromas of fine spices, decayed leaves, wild berries and flowers. It's full and round, faithful to its style, juicy and rich even in more austere years. It's tasty and dry and has the balance to develop nicely in bottle. Another one for the table. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2017.
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James Suckling
A tight and taut red. Firm, very resolved and polished. Medium body. Juicy and beautiful. Long and very pretty. Coats your mouth with ripe tannins. Drink now.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2014 C.V.N.E. Viña Real is bright with attractive complexity and tension on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of bright fruit, complementary wood, and earth. Enjoy it with grilled lamb dishes. (Tasted: April 15, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Gritty olive and rubbery black-fruit aromas give this gran reserva an earthy, reduced opening. That's contrasted by sharp acidity, which brightens plum and savory berry flavors. Plum and chocolate notes come with coffee-like blackness on a finish where lively acidity reappears. Drink through 2026.
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Decanter
Attractive coffee and caramel aromas lead to a fruity, plummy palate of raspberry and spice on the finish. Youthful wine with plenty of character, but will soften and develop.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and supple, this red offers cherry and red plum flavors, backed by licorice, graphite and smoky notes. Well-integrated tannins lend support, while orange peel acidity keeps this lively. Harmonious, in the traditional style. Tempranillo and Graciano. Drink now through 2029. 2,500 cases made, 600 cases imported.
Owned by the CVNE family , Viña Real dates back to 1920. Today this winery is not only a winemaking pioneer in ageing Rioja Alavesa but a timeless brand that has always remained faithful to its roots, with authenticity and sincerity at the fore.
Ever since then, a meticulous balance between tradition and modernity has defined the shape and content of Viña Real.
2004 saw the inauguration of the new Viña Real winery in Laguardia, where the whole process takes place from receiving the grapes to dispatching bottled wines.
Rioja Alavesa grapes are at the very heart of this winery. The winery’s name was inspired by the proximity of its vineyards to the old Camino Real. Clinging to this same patch of earth and blending into the Cerro de la Mesa hill is a monumental 30,000-square metre vat: this is the Viña Real building, an iconic design built in 2004 that masterfully blends the construction into the Riojan terrain.
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.