Gosh what a smart looking bottle this is. The first Rioja producers to use a screw top with Crianza (code for having been in oak casks for at least one year). The bright top is like a red lipstick, fresh and eager, and slightly dressing up this bottle with a smack of colour, producing an expectation of a vibrant wine.The label is slick and attractive, with Cune in gold embossed curvy letters. Altogether a pretty, exciting package.

The producers are C.V.N.E. (The Northern Spanish Wine Company) founded in 1879 and still controlled by the same family. Their brand name of 'Cune' came about almost as a slang version of C.V.N.E. and stuck. It is made in the Rioja Alta. They also have other brand names in the Rioja Alavesa. So it all sounds very promising.

The grapes are Tempranillo with Mazuelo (a.k.a. Carignan) and Grenache.

My expectation fell from a great height and landed with sharp thud onto a featureless floor. I did not enjoy this wine, and at almost £8 it seems way overpriced. It was thin,dry and devoid of depth. I quote from their tasting notes -

"Bright cherry colour with some violet nuances. In the nose, red berries aromas remain over the oaky and balsamic notes from its ageing in wood. It shows an elegance in the mouth, yet very lively, with some spice back notes and a very balanced acidity"

Let's pick their description apart -

Ok, so I agree with the 'bright cherry colour'....don't get me started on 'violets'. Perhaps unripe very dry 'red berries'...no discernable 'oaky and balsamic notes'. The only 'elegance' is the bottle's outfit, and there is little 'spice'. It is about as 'balanced' and playful as an empty seesaw.

I could not finish the bottle. I even gave it a second whirl leaving it a day after opening. No improvement. It tasted young and immature, the puzzle being the screw top which would imply that it is not designed to be kept in a cellar to improve for years before drinking. So what you see is what you get I suppose. Give me that Vina Pomal I tasted recently for a couple of quid more.

Despite this I would like to risk trying the 'other brands' of wine from C.V.N.E. to compare, after reading some good reviews. It can only get better I guess. I will post back next time I find one.

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