I was chatting with a group of friends at a wine show recently and they asked if I had tried the red that was being poured by Cune winery of Spain and when I replied in the negative they strongly suggested that I do so as they would like to offer the distributorship to us. I know that Spain has the largest area of planted vineyards of any country and their total wine production is only exceeded by France and Italy. I have never figured out why Spain accounts for a minuscule two percent or so of our consumption in Bermuda, maybe we just need the right wine to change that!

So I tasted the Cune and decided that it should be on my “serious wine to consider for the future” list, and then it happened. The December issue of the Wine Spectator arrived with its annual list of the top 100 wines and there in first place overall, probably the greatest honour a wine can be given, was the Cune Imperial Gran Reserva 2004 from the Rioja region of Spain. The magazine awarded it 95/100 and called it a benchmark for its pedigree and consistency and it described a producer that has found a middle ground that is rooted in history yet open to innovation.

I read the article, picked up the phone immediately, and now we have just unloaded a selection of four reds from Cune. We start with their 2010 Crianza at $19.85 and it has a lively cherry-red appearance and a nose of light summer fruits. Among cherry notes there are lovely hints of vanilla from the influence of oak. Robert Parker gives it a 90/100. To explain the four categories produced in Spain we start with plain Rioja and this has just a little or no oak treatment and one to two years ageing before release. Next is Crianza that stipulates one year in oak and one in bottle before release. Reserve indicates one year in oak and two in bottle, and finally Gran Reserve guarantees two years in oak and three in bottle before the wine leaves the winery.

Our Cune Reserve 2009 at $28.95 is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano grapes that would love to be enjoyed with duck or lamb. The International Wine Cellar awarded it 91/100 and described “sexy red fruits, oak spices and floral oils on the nose with sweet, deep cherry-vanilla and black raspberry flavours and a very appealing texture”.

Cune Imperial Reserve 2008 steps it up even further with mulberries, vanilla and spice, stewed currant fruit and a very elegant richness. This wine consists of the quite well known Tempranillo grape and a couple of others not so familiar, and even though the fruit varieties are so different it does bring to mind a time when Bordeaux and Rioja were historically linked. $43.50.

I think that I was talking on the phone even before I could close the December issue of the Wine Spectator, but of course I was too late to get any of the Cune Imperial Rioja Gran Reserve 2004 that earned that top overall honour. The impact on sales of this top 100 list is always quite remarkable. We have bought in the 2007 Imperial Gran Reserve that is only produced in exceptional years and only released after a minimum of 24 months in oak casks and 36 months of additional bottle ageing.

The Spanish like to use American oak with its contribution of spice and this wine that is fermented on native yeasts is made in a combination of 70 percent USA oak and 30 percent French.

Although the price is $54.80 a common theme of reviewers is its value. Personally I very much enjoy Spanish wines and wish that they would be more in demand here, but hopefully Cune might be the winery to create a new awareness.

Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or on 295-0176. Burrows, Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available online at www.wineonline.bm.