VIÑA REAL RESERVA RIOJA 1991 – CVNE
I have so often expressed admiration for mature Imperial and Viña Real from CVNE that this one came as a real disappointment. Does this confirm rumours that CVNE’s top wines started sliding from about 1990 and have gone frankly “modern” since about 2000 or was it simply a bad bottle?
C: Quite a deep core but very substantial bricking, even browning (stains on my table napkin were rust coloured). N: Developed but showing sourness combined with orange peel notes and some malt. P: Quite full but disjointed with some typically sweet Rioja notes but more of untypically sour rancid notes.
Having expected something a bit special, my wife and I decided to ditch the remaining contents of this bottle and of our glasses onto the garden.
I am tempted to attribute this poor showing to a bad bottle arising from excessive heat or, more likely, light exposure in the German supermarket where I bought it soon after an excellent vertical of Viña Real in December 2001 going back to the 50s. However reverting to my notes of this vertical, I noted then –
“1991 Gran Reserva - N: Creamier or more evolved than previous. P: More disjointed and less structure and acidity than previous but with nice ripe fruit w raspberry hints. A hint of dustiness on finish. Near its peak. Very good.”
(“Previous” incidentally was 2004 which I thought had excellent potential.)
So perhaps there is nothing wrong with the bottle and quite simply 1991 was rapidly a maturing and disintegrating year at CVNE’s Viña Real for both GR and Reserva. Has anyone here had similar or other experience of these wines?
To stop the gap, I went back down to my cellar to bring up a trial bottle currently on sale for approximately EUR 16 at our local supermarket.
CONTINO RIOJA CONSECHA 2003 – Viñedos del Contino
C : A healthy deep mauve. N: Ripe plum with hints of sweet cherry. P: Full with robust ripe fruit, some freshness, similar aromas to N and good structure, length and support at the rear of the palate. This wine showed none of the cooked, candied notes which disfigure a lot of 2003s from France and Italy and represents good QPR. I will probably buy more. So accessible that I fear that it may not age well but it is very nice indeed right now.
