wines . They were all , in their own way , superb and classy examples of the truly great wines that come from La Rioja . Their wines are generally available in the UK – Crianza ( circa £ 10 / 13 a bottle ); Reserva ( circa £ 18 / 20 a bottle ); Gran Reserva ( circa £ 24 / 25 a bottle ); Rosado ( circa £ 10 / 11 a bottle ); Blanco ( circa £ 10 / 11 a bottle ). Try web sites like Wine Direct , the Wine Society ( if you are a member ), Vinissimus , ND John Wine Merchants , Vinatis , Turville Valley Wines and many others ( also many of these wines are available on Amazon ….. although at greater cost ).
Viñedos del Contino
We then come to the winery that is Viñedos del Contino . Another winery in the CVNE fold , it was founded in 1973 and became the first Rioja chateau concept winery . The winery is a former manor house in Laserna , also not far from Logroño , and is surrounded by 62 hectares of vineyards from which all its wines are sourced . Its 16th-century cave cellars are amongst the oldest in the Rioja region . The winery makes outstanding , world class , wines . Sadly , when we visited , there was a wedding at the winery , so we had to make do with tasting some of their wines at Viña Real . But …. what a wonderful place to get married !
The Contino wines are wines I have both loved , and have collected , for twenty years or more now . Their Reserva , Gran Reserva , Blanco , Garnacha and Graciano wines have long been favourites of mine . They are phenomenal wines . However , my favourite wine from the winery has to be Contino ’ s Viña del Olivo . The wine is produced from the best bunches of grapes that are hand-harvested from the wineries 700 year old Olivo vineyard . It is an extraordinary wine of great balance and purity . It is a wine of great power , in terms of both fruit and tannin , and needs time for the wine to integrate . When it does , it is a truly harmonious and superlative wine . Many UK retailers possess some stock of this wine at around , depending on vintage , the £ 60 / 65 a 75 cl bottle mark . It is one of those wines in life that you really do get what you pay for . Not only one of Rioja ’ s best examples of a fine wine , but up there as one of the world ’ s finest examples of a truly great wine . The other Contino wines are cheaper , but well worth seeking out . Again , they are variously available online . Have a look for them . They are tremendous wines .
CVNE / Imperial
Another visit , on another day , was a visit to the original CVNE winery back in Haro . It sits , today , on its original site in the wine district , Barrio de la Estación , in Haro . The winery consists of a sunny courtyard , flanked by unique stone buildings with ceramic tile roofs . It is the central hub of CVNE . It is where it all began back in 1879 .
The winery comprises a collection of structures and cellars , most dating from the 19th century , arranged around this wonderful central courtyard . Above the cellars are the winemaking , bottling , and shipping facilities , conserved to this day . simple , but fortunate , spelling error where the letter V with confused with the letter U . This simple error has led to the creation of the iconic ‘ Cune ’ brand . The good fortune that resulted from this simple error is that the ‘ Cune ’ brand is now one of the leading wine brands on the national market . They produce an array of tremendous wines : the Cune Crianza , the Cune Reserva , the Cune Gran Reserva , the Cune Blanco , the Cune Blanco Reserva , the Cune Rosado and the Cune Rueda . These wines are pretty reasonably priced in the UK and are available at many outlets online ( again , for example go to Majestic , Wine Direct , Vinatis , Four Walls Wine Company ) who are currently selling the Cune Rioja Crianza at £ 9.99 a bottle , the Cune Rioja Reserva at £ 14.99 a bottle , the Cune Rioja Gran Reserva at £ 19.99 a bottle and Cune Blanco for £ 8.99 a bottle ( less if you mix six bottles together with a Majestic order ).
And then finally , but by no means least , we have Imperial . The wines that are labelled Imperial are some of the great wines of Spain . The Imperial label began in 1920 as an export brand for the UK and is named for its initial bottling in Imperial pints . Imperial is a separate , independent , artisanal winery functioning within the CVNE compound in Haro . This brand has produced some of Spain ’ s finest wines since 1920 and is only produced in years of exceptional harvests in La Rioja . The Imperial brand is truly one of the great names in Spanish winemaking . The Imperial range includes the CVNE Imperial Reserva ( the current 2018 release is selling for circa £ 20 a bottle ); the CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva ( the current 2015 release is selling for circa £ 46 bottle ) along with the Corona Gran Reserva ( white ) and the Real de Asúa ( a homage to the winery ’ s founders which , along with the Imperial wines , is an independent winery made within the walls of the original historic CVNE winery site ). The imperial Reserva and Gran Reserva are again available at various outlets in the UK ( for example try Berry Bros . & Rudd , Wine Direct , Vinum , the Wine Society and Majestic but to name a few ).
Whether you like wine or not , La Rioja is a fabulous part of the world to visit . Whilst I , and my travelling party , were fortunate enough to have pre-arranged visits to a number of wineries , via the trade , visits to most of the wineries in La Rioja , including those above , can be arranged directly with the wineries themselves . Just go to their web sites and arrange a visit . The fact that we ended up in the wineries we did was not by chance . They were hand-picked by us before we left . They were , obviously picked for a reason . If you want to venture out there , the nearest airport , some 45 – 60 minutes away , is Bilboa . Haro , rather than being the quiet , sleepy , little town that I thought it might be , was alive and , at night , buzzing .
More , perhaps , on La Rioja from me in the future . Finally , can I give a shout out to two restaurants that are a must if you do visit – Alameda in Fuenmayor ( truly another story for another day ) and the brasserie at Echaurren Tradición in nearby Ezcaray ( it also has a Michelin ** restaurant - but the brasserie was enormously impressive ). Both restaurants had eye wateringly impressive wine lists too !
From the winery come the wines that many of you may have seen with the word ‘ Cune ’ on the bottle label . This , remarkably , was all down to a wirrallife . com 29