Cune Rioja Gran Reserva 2018

Let this puppy open for an hour + and it goes from a vegetable smorgasbord to a blueberry cheesecake. Simply amazing how this opens up - must try this great value. - KK

Very classic character to this with toasted oak, hints of consomme, meat and dried lemon. Medium body with crisp, firm tannins. Drink or hold.

Glistening ruby. Expansive red and blue fruit, pipe tobacco, potpourri and baking spice aromas, with vanilla and smoky mineral notes slowly emerging. Sappy and gently chewy on the palate, offering spice-accented black raspberry, bitter cherry and rose pastille flavors that turn sweeter on the back half. Shows sharp focus and repeating florality on the long, subtly tannic finish, which leaves behind notes of candied blue fruits and cola.

The 2017 Cune Gran Reserva comes from a very challenging year marked by frost and a dry and warm end of the season, but it shows very good freshness and youth, transcending the adverse conditions of the year. It's a blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo with good ripeness and 14% alcohol; it's approachable and affordable with a mix of developed and fruit-driven characteristics. It matured in oak barrels for 24 months, and the oak is neatly folded into the wine. Great effort for the vintage. 175,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2020.

A savory red, leading with smoke and espresso notes before a plushly textured mix of black cherry, Kalamata olive and black tea pushes through. Sinewy tannins firm the fresh, spiced finish. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2029. 4,000 cases made, 2,000 cases imported.