Full, morello cherry, ruby red, good intensity. Ripe autumn red and purple fruit, raspberries, damsons and sloes over a fine toasty vanilla complexity. Rich, deep and balanced. Well structured on the palate with plenty of fine, lingering rich fruit and a lively note of tannin. The finish is elegant and long with good balancing acidity. Serve with game, cured meats and hard cheeses.

Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España was established on the 24th of March 1879 in Haro, Rioja. Set up by two brothers, Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa, their aim was to capitalize on the flourishing new trade in wine.

C.V.N.E. is based in the traditional neighbourhood of the station, in the heart of the Rioja wine region. Historically, some of the oldest wineries of Rioja Alta established themselves here in order to benefit from the ease of transport via rail to the port of Bilbao, the most efficient form of transport in those days.

By 1900, the winery had an extraordinary ageing capacity of 80,000 bottles, which was most unusual at the time, as most wineries sold their wines as soon as possible.

C.V.N.E. is still controlled by the direct descendants of the founding family, now in its fifth generation, the company has been quoted on the Madrid stock exchange since 1997.

Founded in 1879, the winery and its first cellar (Cellar 1) were built in the same year. Its design incorporated an innovative new lighting system designed to illuminate every corner of the cellar and is still in operation today. A wooden lamp can be manually moved across two copper rails, providing a uniform light that illuminates every corner of the cellar. The specially selected wine in the barrels here are from exceptional vintages only. The wines age in 225 litres barrels, producing 300 bottles of wine each, and belong exclusively to C.V.N.E.s private clients.

Innovation has always been a key philosophy of C.V.N.E.’s and at the end of the 19th Century C.V.N.E. acquired a pasteurizer “Malvoisin”. At the time, this revolutionary machine was the first of its kind in Spain and was a radical innovation in wine making. Nowadays, this historic machine sits in the grounds of the winery.

Further developments followed and twenty years after C.V.N.E. was founded, the architectural practice of the legendary Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel designed a new cellar for the winery, Eiffel’s Cellar. Their revolutionary design had a direct impact on wine production. The innovative construction of this cellar incorporated a new form of structural support. Instead of using conventional columns to support the ceiling, metallic trusses extend from wall to wall. The resulting open space, designed by Eiffel, significantly improved the management of barrels in the cellar, allowing for easier racking, maintenance and supervision of the wines. Since its construction, (1890-1909), the cellar has been used for ageing Imperial wines in oak barrels.

Of architectural interest is that fact that these buildings have been built with a North South aspect incorporating windows that can be opened, during the heat of summer, to allow cooling breezes through the cellars.

On the 16th July 1941 a new vinification plant was inaugurated and given the name “El Carmen”. This was the first vinification plant, made out of epoxy lined concrete, which has since been much copied. Nowadays, after the stainless steel boom, this material is having a renaissance due to its high neutrality and ability to maintain stable temperatures.

On the 12th October 1989 a state of the art vinification plant was inaugurated and named “El Pilar”. This winery was the first large production plant to handle unfermented grape juice with real care. This is done using small stainless steel tanks to transport the grapes and must. Each tank is lifted, by crane, and positioned on top of a fermentation tank. It is then flushed into the tank, eradicating the need for pumps and hoses. C.V.N.E. pioneered and developed this revolutionary concept, which has since been adopted by other wineries around the world.

In 1994 a new, modern style of wine, Real de Asua, was created in memory of the two brothers who founded C.V.N.E. And in 2005 the Real de Asúa winery was completed, an independent winery inside the original historic quarters of C.V.N.E. Here, the hand selected grapes are chilled prior to fermentation in a mixture of French oak vats and miniature concrete tanks, lined with glass.

Viña Real is one of the first brands to produce age worthy wines in the Rioja Alavesa province. These wines are produced mostly from the Tempranillo grape. This variety is perfectly adapted to the ‘terroir’ of Rioja Alavesa where the climatic and growing conditions are ideal. The Tempranillo grape is a variety has a unique capacity to produce wines which benefit from barrel and bottle ageing.

In 1920 the first Viña Real wines were launched. These wines were produced from grapes grown around Elciego, in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa province. These vineyards, to this day are still controlled by Viña Real and continue to border the ‘Camino Real’ or ‘Royal Drive’; hence the origin of the Viña Real name.

The Viña Real wines combine New World fruit intensity with Old World style, often compared to the wines of Burgundy. They modern in structure, balanced and elegant, with the potential to age well in bottle, a characteristic of the wines from Rioja Alavesa.