2012 Cune "Imperial" Gran Reserva Rioja

SKU #1431729 95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The wine that represents the traditional and serious reds from Haro, the 2012 Imperial Gran Reserva is a classical blend of Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo that matured in barrel for two years. It has a textbook serious Haro nose, with dark spices, ripe fruit, something balsamic and a round, full-bodied palate within the straight and serious style of the wine. 2012 was a warm year, but the wines are fresher than those from 2011. This has fine, slightly grainy tannins with good grip. A textbook Imperial Gran Reserva. (LG) (6/2019)

94 points James Suckling

A tight and beautiful wine with blackberries, bramble berries, rose petals and lemon grass. Medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins and a beautiful finish. Very fine-grained. (8/2018)

94 points Vinous

Vivid ruby-red. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe raspberry, cherry-cola, potpourri and exotic spices, with a suave vanilla topnote and a smoky mineral flourish. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering lush red fruit, spicecake, mocha and coconut flavors that steadily tighten up on the back half. Finishes extremely long and spicy, with a resonating floral quality, well-knit tannins and lingering oak spice notes. This one is still quite young. (JR) (2/2019)

93 points John Gilman

The 2012 Imperial “Gran Reserva” from Cuné is a superb young wine in the making, but this is a pretty ripe vintage for this iconic bottling, as it comes in at fourteen percent octane, but it is emblematic of the classical elegance of this cuvée. The bouquet is deep, still fairly primary and very promising, offering up scents of black cherries, sweet dark berries, dried eucalyptus, Cuban cigars, a superb base of soil and a smoky foundation of American oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and beautifully plush down at the core, with fine-grained tannins, impeccable focus and balance and a very, very long, nascently complex finish. This is more reserved on the palate than the nose suggests (and also more backward than the 2015 Imperial Reserva) and is in need of some extended cellaring to really blossom, despite its seamless balance today. In due course, this will be brilliant wine. 93+ (9/2019)

92 points Wine Enthusiast

Aromas of baked blueberry and prune on the nose reflect the hot, dry vintage. The solid palate brings dense berry and plum flavors that show a touch of raisin prior to a fruit-laden finish. (MS) (1/2020)

91 points Wine Spectator

Loamy earth and forest floor notes frame cherry and currant flavors in this round red. Well-integrated tannins and fresh acidity keep this focused. Shows a nice balance of fruity and savory characteristics. (TM) (6/2019)

K&L Notes

97 points Tim Atkin MW: "Made in a hot year, but not showing the effects of the weather, this comes from vineyards in Villalba, Briones and Torremontalbo and is another brilliant release from María Larrea. Savory, sweet and well balanced, with 15% Graciano adding extra backbone and the zest that you expect from this special red."