I’ve never understood QI. Presented by Stephen Fry, it gathers together four celebrities who have a higher intelligence level than the average ‘celebrity quiz show’ panellist where they are asked questions where if they give the most obvious answer, they lose. The host then awards points with absolutely no consistency and random facts come spurting forth from all the people on the show, such as a woodlouse doesn’t wee, it emits a vapour instead.This programme is the perfect vehicle for Fry’s great intellect and quick wit, and paired with the only regular panellist, Alan Davies, their upper/lower class, Oxbridge Graduate/school of hard knocks dropout, their relationship enriches a rather strange experience.
Despite rarely knowing what the hell is going on in this televisual experience, I actually enjoy wasting half an hour watching it. If I miss an episode I really don’t care that much but when I catch it I have fun. The same applies with Rioja. If drinking it at a dinner party or over a meal, I quite enjoy them, but I never find myself thinking “I quite fancy a Rioja tonight”. It is a pretty safe wine to choose in a restaurant if are presented with loads of unfamiliar producers and when you venture to a supermarket and your only source of advice is a spotty sixteen year old shelf stacker, you can always rely on a big producer such as Marques de Caceres or Faustino.
And wines from Compania Vinicola de Norte de Espana (CVNE or Cune as it has become known) were shown to me on Friday. I’d initially thought that Cune was a medium sized company, large production but not in the scale of Caceres. Wrong! Cune is massive. A huge producer, but where they differ is that they have a lot of their own grapes in their wines. Having that sort of control benefits these wines as I was very surprised and pleased at the quality of their products, but would they make me want to go out and buy them?
Having said that, they have five brands which could possibly confuse things. So often when one big company has multiple brands, what you get is the same stuff just repackaged. Again, not so with Cune. Stealing the analogy from both Cune’s website, the Cune brand is more Bordeaux-esque, whereas the Vina Real wines are a lot more Burgundy like. But we started with a wine that is doing everything it can not to be what it is. A white rioja.
The 2007 Monopole white rioja is in an Alsatian flute bottle. It has the word ‘Monopole’ pinched from Burgundy emblazoned across the label and when you initially stick your nose in the bottle it smells nothing like white rioja usually does. And that is a good thing.
Not anything like a normal, fat, oaky fruitless rubbish that you usually get, this is light and clean with more fruit than a greengrocers and is as far from white rioja as you can get! Green leaves, a bit of peach, lime and garden peas. A little apple on the palate, quite dry, with just a little creamy element. This hasn’t seen any form of wood, isn’t the usual oxidised crap that you normally get from this region. I’d be quite happy drinking this. 8/10
2005 Cune Rioja Crianza gives bubblegum initially, then a little herbs and a tiny bit of cherry but that is it. The palate is tight, a bit of green, dark, slightly tannic wine. It’s got tobacco, a dark chocolate bit to it. Strange on the finish, all secondary flavours and smoky oak. 7/10
The 2004 Cune Rioja Reserva is a rich, raisiny wine. Vanilla sweetness coming through and a bit of toffee. Smoked cheese on the nose as well. Dark spice, my brain said ‘smoked cinnamon’, despite never having ever sampled smoked cinnamon before! Dried cherries and a leafy finish. It’s got bundles of liquorice too, superb. 8.5/10
If the Cune wines are Bordeaux like I’d have expected to prefer them being a claret lover. I didn’t, the Vina Real Rioja Crianza, 2005, was much better. A lot more balanced and elegant. Brambles and cinnamon with a bit of mint and dark leafy fruit. Plum on the palate and it has so much finesse with a long spicy finish. 8/10. I like this a lot. The big brother to this wine, the 2001 Imperial Rioja Reserva, is stunning. Sour cherries, sweet cherries and then vanilla, chocolate and a little rosemary all leaping out of the glass. A spicy palate, with raisins, black pepper, then softened up by tobacco, milk chocolate and more vanilla. Not much tannin, just all fruit, spice and tobacco. A stupendous wine. 9/10
Finally, the 2004 Contino Reserva Rioja. It has gentle, ripe fruit and chilli chocolate giving a sweet spicy heat. The palate is firm, tannic with a little dark berry fruit. Too much alcohol and spice, quite closed on the palate but quite smoky. It’s got an under ripe cassis flavour to it too. Way too young but given time should be really tasty. 8.5/10
I like Cune’s wines. They are well made and while the style of the Cune brand is not my cup of tea they are good wines, and the Vina Real and Imperial brands are more my thing and I really like them. Would I go out to buy them? Have they convinced me that I should be concerned that I am missing out on great Spanish wines by not really caring about Rioja? No. The wines are lovely but they just don’t generate any passion in me to go and explore Spain more. I’m not certain if that is a failing in me or a failing in Rioja as a whole, but it is not a failing of Cune. Rioja really is like an episode of Qi, I still haven’t a clue what is going on.
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