CVNE

There’s no shortage of annoying acronyms in the world (ikwym, lol!) but sometimes a bit of judicious shortening can make life a LOT easier. And when the Real de Asúa brothers set up their winery in 1879, telephones were in their infancy. Forget texting. So calling their new business the Compañía Vinícola del Norte de Espana (the Northern Spain Wine Company) might have seemed a smart idea. Of course, everyone shortened it to C.V.N.E. which, over time, became the easier-to-pronounce CUNE (koo-nay).

Initial branding snafus aside, CVNE has gone on to become one of the great names of Rioja. It’s based in the famous Barrio de la Estacion in Haro, which has probably more wineries per square metre than anywhere else in the world, with producers wheeling bottles straight out of the cellar and onto waiting trains.

For all that it is one of Rioja’s oldest wineries, CVNE’s brilliance lies in seamlessly combining old and new throughout its 140+ year history. So the old 19th century cellars are still in use – but combined with a super-modern gravity-fed winery. The wines are absolutely benchmark classic Rioja (traditional varieties, plenty of time in oak) but gently tweaked to be attractive to modern tastes. They are among the most reliable, accessible and affordable of all of the region’s wines, loved by occasional fans and hardcore Rioja-philes alike. IYKYK.