| Region of production: | Rioja Alta |
| Winery Location: | Haro |
| Year Established: | 1879 |
Vineyard Holdings
545 ha
Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages
- Viña Real Gran Reserva: 95% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano, from the best plots in the Rioja Alavesa subregion. Grapes are hand-harvested and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation occurs in a combination of French and American oak. The wine ages in cask for 24 months, then spends an additional three years in bottle.
- Contino Gran Reserva: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo and Garnacha, from estate vineyards. The grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed after sorting, and undergo maceration for almost three weeks. The wine is aged in barrel for two years and bottle for three years.
- Imperial Gran Reserva: 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo, from low-yielding vines about 20 years old. The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed, then undergo a long maceration to extract color and tannin. The wine is aged in American oak barrels for three years and in bottle for four years.
- Monopole: 100% Viura. The grapes are pressed gently, then fermented in stainless steel at controlled temperatures. This is the oldest white wine brand in Spain. Inaugural vintage 1915.
Average Total Production
- Viña Real: N/A
- Contino: 144,000 to 192,000 bottles
- Imperial: 192,000 bottles
Summary
The Real de Asua brothers established Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España, or CVNE, in 1879, situating their business in the station town of Haro to ensure easy export. Today, the winery remains family owned and operated. The estate was the first to use concrete tanks, and their Monopole wine is the oldest registered white wine in Spain, with its inaugural vintage in 1915. The winery boasts a cellar designed by Aleixandre Gustave Eiffel.
Under the CVNE label are three wineries: Imperial, Viña Real, and Contino:
- Viña Real: Viña Real was established in the 1920s. With fruit from the Rioja Alavesa subregion, the winery produces a Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva, and small amounts of a cuvée called Pagos de Viña Real.
- Contino: Contino was established in 1973 as a joint project between CVNE owners and the Contino estate owners. Before that time, the Contino owners sold their fruit to CVNE for use in the Viña Real and CVNE wines. The Contino estate consists of 62 ha in the Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa. It has some of the oldest Graciano vineyards in the region, which it uses to produce a monovarietal Graciano wine. All of the Contino wines are made with fruit from estate vineyards.
- Imperial: The fruit used for Imperial wines comes from 28 ha of estate vineyards in the Rioja Alta subregion. The wine was first produced in the 1920s and is only made in exceptional vintages.
Style & Vinification Techniques
CVNE works traditionally in many ways, using only estate fruit and employing extended maceration and aging. Yet the winery has been innovative as well, employing concrete tanks, using gravity in the fermentation process, and registering the first white wine in Spain.
Producer Website: Vinícola del Norte de España