CVNE Cune Reserva 2016

Brilliant ruby. Ripe, spice-accented red berries, cherry cola, coconut and a hint of woodsmoke on the perfumed nose. Pliant and appealingly sweet, offering oak-spiced cherry, black raspberry, licorice and mocha flavors that deepen and tighten up on the back half. Finishes with very good tenacity, the dusty tannins lending grip to lingering cherry and succulent herb notes. JOSH RAYNOLDS, Vinous

The current release of the first wine ever produced at CVNE is the 2016 Cune Reserva, a classical blend of Tempranillo with 15% Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo from Haro. 2016 was a cooler vintage that delivered wines with less alcohol and good freshness, and this textbook example fermented in 20,000-liter stainless steel vats and matured in French and American oak barrels for 24 months. It is a bit austere and a little lighter but very tasty and fresh, without the richness of the warmer year but still very gourmand and profound for the price. It finishes dry and with fine tannins. A Reserva for the table and the best Reserva since the 2010. They produced 500,000 bottles of this wine. It was bottled in February 2019. LUIS GUTIERREZ, Robert Parker