CVNE: 10 Decades of Imperial

This wine has been bottled since the 1920's and received its current name from the British Imperial Pint a format it was originally bottled in.
Recently CVNE/CUNE held a tasting of Imperial in London with a wine from the past ten decades.
The youngest was the 2004 (not yet released) and the oldest from 1917.
Here are some quick impressions.
I didn't manage to write down some of the technical information like cepage given by Charles Metcalfe and Jesús Madrazo who hosted the tasting along with the Chief Executive Victor Urratia, I was lost in my glass!

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CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 2004
Ruby red colour lightening towards the rim. Lots of red fruit on the nose. Very lively on the nose and on the palate. Young. There is no real trace of wood here (young or old) Quite firm.
Unmistakably Rioja and that camphor note I associate with CVNE is there.

CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1995
Lovely nose here. Not dominated by fruit or oak. Beautifully integrated. Hint of leather. Still very fresh with good acidity.
On the palate it's not as good as a bottle I had 18months ago. Still very good.

CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1987
Light red colour at core fading to orange at the rim. Church pew/varnish/camphor on the nose but not VA...tea..smoke..
Light on palate. Wonderful. Ethereal.

CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1970
Trouble here from the off...not a good aroma...oxidised. Shame. Started to worry if this might be a sign of things to come...boy was I wrong!

CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1968
The year of revolutions. I was five years old.
Martin Luther King was killed. The Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. This info from the lovely brochure to accompany the tasting. (to be completely honest they didn't mention my age)
Orange colour. The first sniff yelled greatness. Fruit still there on the nose and sweet too, almost a caramel note to it. Lovely Rioja still very much alive.
After a while in the glass it began to show that mahogany/camphor/smoked tea note. A lot going on here. Sublime.
And this was my 2nd favourite wine of the day.

CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1953
Orange colour. For the first time today the nose is giving up nothing. None of the lovely aromas of previous wines. Still interesting on the palate- on decline perhaps. Somewhat dilute. Not great but perhaps bottle variation.
This year was rated as "Below average" by the D.O.C but "Very good" by CVNE.

CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1947
Orange rim and unbelievably a red core!
Amazing nose. All my usual descriptors here, like the 68, varnished wood, camphor, sweet fruit, lifted a touch, and a hint of spice.
Outstanding. A thrill to drink./ Sublime.
The best wine of the tasting.

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CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1939
Well a pretty important year for Spain and the world. The civil war ends and WW2 begins. On a happier note Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are released.
On this wine there's no hint of Dorothy's red shoes. Instead a broeny orange colour.
The nose has hints of old Rioja about it but it is showing its age. There is that telltale camphor/tea note.
Much better on the palate. There is a slight sweetness still present on the finish. Quite lovely. On the next sip there's a more sour note. It seems to alternate. Very good particularly on the palate.
Interestingly the D.O.C rated this year as "Average" and CVNE thought it "Excellent"
CVNE were right.

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CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1928
Deeper colour than the '39. Amazingly deep coloured for its age. Redish core and orange rim. Actually the colour is remarkable, hard to believe these weren't 'refreshed' but the bodega says there was nothing of the sort.
The nose is very muted. Slightly sweaty. Also some leathery notes/
Palate quite insipid. Not a lot here at least from this bottle.

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CVNE IMPERIAL GRAN RESERVA 1917
Grey/Brown colour. If I had a blindfold on I would swear it was Sauvignon Blanc! Full on sewaty aromas. On the palate there is a hint of fruit but it falls away very quickly. Hardly any of this vintage remains in the Bidegas cellar.
From the year of the Russian revolution perhaps a couple of those remaining bottles have outlived communism.

Please remember that I only drank from one particular bottle and others might report differently as there were a few bottles of each vintage. For me the outstanding wines were
1947
1968
1987

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Hand Blown Glass Bottles

Before going in to the tasting the current CVNE range was available to taste. The CVNE IMPERIAL crianzas, reservas and GR and also the entire Vina Real range. Alongside these wines were the
REAL DE ASUA and PAGOS DE VINA REAL wines. CVNE's super cuvee wines. Neither showed that well and I'm left wondering what the point of them is?
Plenty of wineries in Spain have gone down the modern route (and I like many) but shouldn't CVNE stick to what they do best. If the existence of these cuvees detracts in the slightest from the creation of another 1947, 1968 or 1987 then it will be a real shame.