1968 Imperial Gran Reserva
Buying options
Tasting notes
From a more difficult vintage, the 1968 Imperial has a charming nose that seamlessly combines savoury and sweet – with earthy richness that sits alongside incense-inflected berry fruit and a pleasing herbal note. The palate is elegant and vibrant, with plenty of fruit still driving through its core, while more savoury, smoky notes dominate the finish. Fermented in concrete, 12.7% alcohol and bottled April 1974.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jay S Miller, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
A difficult year, we're told, and then I put my nose into the glass and feel the present peeling away from me. I'm going down. Camphor, bitter orange, pink grapefruit, pink peppercorns. So fragrant. Is this really the scent of 57 years? Orange peel? The last daylight left on the step I just left behind me. Rusty nail and iodine. Every sip, a step. Lupin, then cumin, wet sawdust then peony. I scribble, breath, pause, tear up, pause, breathe, scribble. I'm damned. How the hell do you write about this? If this is what difficult tastes like after 57 years, give me difficult every time. Give me this pressed-flowers-between-pages memory of beauty. Give me this moment on old cellar steps, cold wet fungi under my fingers, old wood sweet and dank in my nose, on my cheek. A glass of wine that is a cartographer of time. (TC)
The 1968 Imperial Gran Reserva has similar aromatics and refinement. Rose petal, dried fruits, and other savories lead to a charming, elegant, and altogether captivating wine that shows no sign of deterioration. Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana (C.V.N.E.) is known colloquially to most Spanish wine drinkers as Cune. The company was founded in 1879 by the Real de Asua brothers and still remains in control of their direct descendants. In the 1920s ownership started Vina Real and in 2004 a new winery was built in Laguardia. In 1973 Contino was created to further the concept of the single estate winery and has since been one of the principal leaders in the resurrection of the nearly extinct Graciano grape. The Contino wines are made exclusively from the estate’s 253 acres located in Laserna near the town of Laguardia. The Reserva bottling is the mainstay of the Contino lineup produced from vines ranging in age from 25 to 60 years. The Contino Vina Del Olivo is the product of a dry farmed single vineyard of the same name planted in 1980. The blend is 90% Tempranillo with the balance Graciano and Carinena aged in new oak for 18 months. The Imperial label is affixed at C.V.N.E. only in the top vintages. Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin, www.europvin.com
The 1968 Imperial Gran Reserva has similar aromatics and refinement. Rose petal, dried fruits, and other savories lead to a charming, elegant, and altogether captivating wine that shows no sign of deterioration.
About the producer
CVNE, or Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España (the Northern Spanish Wine Company), is one of Rioja’s leading names. With its various brands – Cune, Viña Real, Contino and Imperial – CVNE produces both large volumes and high quality, with its Imperial Gran Reserva one of the region’s finest wines.