C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva

This is the third bottle of this wine I’ve had over the past decade. From my birth year. The cork wa soaked but firm. Popped and poured. It was still with purple tinge, my fellow drinkers had this blond and were far from nailing the decade, placing it in the 80s or 90s. The nose was lovely, smokey and earthy but still vibrant with ripe dark berries. On the palate velvety and medium length, with just a slight metallic overtone. …

1968 vintage

Very dusty nose upon opening. But after four hours of aeration, it becomes more refined and precise; it's earthy, even clayey, with a background of candied black fruit. Let's not lie, it's past its peak. But the palate remains pleasant, very fluid, with evanescent fruit, truffle, and that dominant earthiness. The interest of this wine lies in its texture, which now resembles an old Burgundy, all velvet. The acidity keeps the juice alive with balsamic and earthy notes. It's on …

1968 vintage

The great start to 2025 (Ocean Drive) : Tasted its age but in a good way. Bouquet showed good balance and amidst the dried fruits, leather and sadle, there was a hint of bullish defiance, almost daring you to belittle and underestimate this wine. Palate had good energy and tension with still plenty of fruit and power. Good finesse and balance for sure but is this better than the 1961 Tondonia? Surely it beats the 1973 and maybe on par …

1968 vintage

Older Wine Pre-Holiday Dinner with Friends. (San Mateo, California) : Garnet. Oxidized. Fantastic prior experiences with this wine, but that was not to be tonight.

1968 vintage

Totally gone. Raisins, prunes, chocolate, dates. Very dark in color.

1968 vintage

BYOB dinner and then some; 2/1/2024-2/2/2024 (Avalon, Amsterdam) : This was unfortunately fully maderized. Bought at an auction and I guess it has spent the better part of its life in a sunny Spanish shop window. Coffee, chocolate, raisins, stout.

1968 vintage

A great, classical, old-style Rioja, wonderfully fresh, with mostly resolved tannins but supported by its acidity, slender but not skinny; the ten years in oak show in the balsamic notes on the nose, clear and transparent palate, but still with some fruit left, excellent length.

1968 vintage

Open soon - Drink fast. The cork was soaked through with evidence of slight leakage to the capsule. Luckily the cork was extracted in one piece. There was a fair amount of sediment at the bottom of the bottle - after standing it upright for 3 days. The wine was served directly from the bottle - not decanted - using an inserted pouring filter. The wine took about 10 minutes in the glass to open, and darken to an amber/brown, …

1968 vintage

Another stellar exemplar of this wine. Earthy, notes of clay, hung meat, red berries and dried leaves. Very elegant, velvety texture, soft tannins and good length. Superb.

1968 vintage

While the cork disintegrated upon extraction, the wine was in pristine condition. Aromas of red berries, plums, stone and wet earth. Very elegant, surprisingly plenty of red fruit, fine tannins and a lovely persistent finish. Nothing “old” about this. It’s hard to beat s great mature Rioja.

1968 vintage

Surprisingly fresh, with little noticeable bricking and virtually no sediment. People around the table thought it was decades younger. Slight note of sandalwood, prominent dill on the nose. Palate revealed smoke and light red berry, with a velvety finish. I think this could go at least a decade (or two) longer, if stored as well as this bottle.

1968 vintage

Fiftieth Birthday Dinner with 1968 Riojas and Other Treats (San Francisco) : Light ruby, mature looking. Regal, laid back aromas of balsam and faint red fruit. Elegant, poised, well balanced in the glass with a hint of herb and perfect acidity to carry it. Lasted beautifully for 2 hours. Wonderful old Rioja. Fortunately, the second chance I've had to taste it this year, consistent showings.

1968 vintage

Old Friends, Old Wine Weekend-Red Burgundy, Rioja, Barolo, and a Few Germans; 1/12/2018-1/14/2018 (Various Venues) : Tasted with the 1962. Ruby through the central 90%, slightly tawny edge. Immediately seductive aromas of balsam, strawberry, and cinnamon. All sorts of secodary high tones. Beautifully vibrant yet subtle red fruit with uplifted blood orange, long, gently fading finish. This was the better of the 2 wines for about 90 minutes, after which it began to show some astringency. Still, a totally wonderful, …

1968 vintage

Lunch at Columbia in Tampa. Medium garnet with orange rim Nose is a touch volatile but really pretty sandalwood, tea, bright cherry, dried red flowers, spice, chassis and earth. Palate is so powerful...wow. so soft, subtle and and yet such power....prototypical iron fist, velvet glove...pure cashmere. Gorgeous red fruit, flowers, spice, mineral, earth, sandalwood, wood spice and chassis. Finish is long, layered and complex.

1968 vintage

Bought from The Sampler in Islington 6 years ago to the day. Opened about 3 hours before drinking. Good level, slightly crumbly cork on pulling it. healthy nose so I left it to breathe and decanted about 30 minutes before starting to drink. It needed a bit longer before showing its best. Not especially complex nose but nice mix of orange peel and redcurrant fruit. Fruit dominated flavour, light at first but it filled out with time and became a …

1968 vintage

Tasted blind. Tobacco, tea, cardboard, garrigue nose. Very good acidity but somewhat dull and without focus. Guessing a pretty good 20+ year old Chateauneuf.

1968 vintage

A pristine bottle bought in Madrid. Youthful, red fruit profile. Translucent ruby red, no sediment at all. Notes of raspberry, daisies, dried herbs and blood. Seamless, elegant and silky. Very fine tannins, secondary flavors of hung meat, but overall quite fruity and not what you'd call an 'old' wine. Most around the table were tasting blind and guessing this to be decades younger. A fantastic wine that can easily age another decade or two.

1968 vintage

From an auction acquisition with a rotted label and faint seepage but good fill. Shy, rusty nose with faint tealike aromas, touch of manure. Ferrous, cherry, walnut, faint clove palate that seems bitter owing to a total lack of sweetness. Fleshy old Rioja texture with bright acidity, but fairly muted all around.

1968 vintage

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Els12golafres Wine Tasting Group: http://vinosclasicos.blogspot.com.es/2014/11/imperial-1968-gran-reserva.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - …

1968 vintage

A private lunch (Restaurant Rekondo, Donostia San-Sebastian, Spain) : Very mature appearance but not bricked through, intense mahogany rim; mature, warm, gentle nose, tertiary of course but harmonious and healthy, complex, dried yellow fruit, cigar box, sandal wood, creamy fresh beef, currants, jasmin; remarkably fresh and lively, slender and elegant but not dried out at all, actually quite juicy and delicious, sustained by a wonderful balance and excellent tannic structure, medium weight; lovely mature flavours, hint of peach, very good …

1968 vintage

The glory of traditional old Rioja: C.V.N.E. Vina Real vertical 1944 - 1978. (Chris and Meredith's.) : Corked.

1968 vintage

Slightly darker but a little less clear. Orange peel nose. Initially a little less focused on the attack and slightly grainy. As the sediment settles out this shows fresher acidity and gradually a lovely sweet fruit comes out. After an hour or so this is lovely. ****

1968 vintage

What an awesome bottle of wine! I had this opened one hour prior to out arrival at "42." The first small pour into my glass was to test the bouquet. OMG! Cherries and Leather. The color was a beautiful clear garnet color with the slightest touch of thinning on the edge. This wine continued to breath in the glass to reveal rich full aromas of a well aged example of Gran Reserva Rioja. The bottle was opened for about two …

1968 vintage

Nose of three day old labrador shit. Mouth follows through with bitterness. Might be a bad bottle, given the year and wine.

1968 vintage

Orange colour. The first sniff yelled greatness. Fruit still there on the nose and sweet too, almost a caramel note to it. Lovely Rioja still very much alive. After a while in the glass it began to show that mahogany/camphor/smoked tea note. A lot going on here. Sublime. And this was my 2nd favourite wine of the day.

1968 vintage

Clear ruby color thoughout the glass. No thinning on the edges. Flavors of dark red fruit upon opening the bottle. Not as fruity as I would have expected. The top third of the cork was dried out a bit which makes sense due to the bottles ullage. The cork fell into the bottle upon extraction, so we decanted using a strainer to catch any cork particulate. Noticed very little sediment. After one hour of decantation, the wine opend up showing …

1968 vintage

Gorgeous nose is a dead-ringer for Right Bank Bordeaux. With time, some tobacco and other more typical Rioja aromas emerge. Amazingly, this wine actually took some time to open up. Kept getting better and better as the evening went on and the last sip was the best. Great acidity, plenty of fruit, impeccable balance - years of life left.

1968 vintage

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C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva

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