CVNE is a winery in the Rioja region of Spain. It also part-own another Rioja producer, Contino.

RED WINES

RIOJA, CVNE IMPERIAL | Imperial was first bottled in 1920. Its name derives from a bottling intended for the English market called ‘Pinta Imperial’ or imperial pint.

RIOJA, CVNE REAL DE ASUA | Stuart George, in the World of Fine Wine (23 2009) says the single-vineyard wine Real de Asúa ‘was created in 1994 in homage to the brothers who founded CVNE. The vineyard, 3 miles (5km) to the northwest of Haro, in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa, sits at 1,770ft (540m) above sea level and previously contributed to the Imperial blend. It was among the first vineyards purchased by CVNE’s founding brothers. The wine is made in its own small winery at Haro (Cellar 3) which was restored according to old photographs and reopened in 2005. The large oak fermenting vats had to be made in situas they were too big to fit through the door. The wine is CVNE’s take on the alta expresión style, an updated and more concentrated version of Imperial, with longer macerations and more new French oak.’

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stuart George, ‘Three times the charm-CVNE’, World of Fine Wine 23 2009 p130-5.