Wines bought to a retired wine distributor of Haro, La Rioja, in 2017. Stored in private cellar up to today. Bottle in outstanding condition: excellent filling level, cork, color, capsule, label, no leakage. Fully mature and therefore drinking well now, or cellar for next 25-30 years. 94+/100 Johan Gilman (View from the Cellar): "I had not drunk a bottle of the 1973 Imperial Gran Reserva from CVNE since the autumn of 2014, when I was last in the Rioja region, and the wine has not been touched by time over this past two and a half years. At age forty-four, the wine is at its absolute summit of peak maturity and drinking with great vibrancy and breed, as it soars from the glass in a complex and pure blend of cherries, woodsmoke, Rioja spice tones, a beautifully complex base of soil, a touch of dried eucalyptus and a discreet framing of coconutty American oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still shows the vigor of youth, with a superb core of fruit, fine soil inflection and a very along, complex and perfectly balanced finish. This bottle was a touch more red fruity than the one that I tasted at the bodegas in October of 2014, with just a touch of remaining tannin and the structure to continue to cruise along at this very high level for at least another thirty years! Great juice". Imperial was first produced in the 1920s. It is always bottled in a Bordeaux-shaped bottle and is named after the Imperial pint bottles it was once sold in. This wine is traditionally a majority of Tempranillo with a bit of Graciano, Mazuelo, and Viura largely from the Rioja Alta. Vinified in a big wooden vat from the founding time of the winery (1877) without temperature control, for 12 months and then racked to cask. Aged for 8 years, 96 months. Racked 12 times, once every 6 months in the first years, using the traditional cask-to-cask Riojan method. Hand bottled directly from the barrel, bottle by bottle. Not filtered. *** All international parcels are shipped with the highest standards of quality: through the premium “UPS International Express”, the fastest service against signature provided by the courier. Packed in a special wine box officially certified by UPS / DHL. Bottles are packed individually, one by one, and wrapped in a 3 layers bubble wrap. Due to the nature of the wine and the value of the products all lots are shipped with insurance coverage. ***