The first time I went to Haro’s Barrio de la Estación (Station District) I understood something the books explain but you have to see: there, the century-old wineries huddled right up against the railway tracks. One of the first was CVNE, the Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (Northern Spain Wine Company). Its story is also the story of how Rioja learnt to travel.
Two brothers from Bilbao in Haro
According to the winery itself, CVNE was founded in 1879 by the brothers Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa. The local paper Haro Digital, which went through the house archives for its 140th anniversary, adds some lovely details. The brothers came to Haro looking for its dry climate to recover from lung conditions contracted during the Third Carlist War. There they went into partnership with Isidro Corcuera, a Riojan from Rodezno obsessed with improving winemaking and ageing.
On 24 March 1879 the company «Corcuera, Real de Asúa y Compañía» was signed into being in Haro, with initial capital of 50,000 pesetas. On 3 June 1882, in Bilbao, it was incorporated as a public limited company under the name we know today: Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España.
Why the Station? Because the Bilbao–Tudela railway made transport cheaper and carried the wine to the port of Bilbao, and from there to France and the rest of the world. Eusebio knew the French market well: in those years phylloxera was ravaging France’s vineyards and Rioja wine was in great demand.
Today CVNE is still in the hands of the same family. The winery says it’s now run by the fifth generation. In the DOCa Rioja it has four wineries (CVNE, Imperial, Viña Real and Contino), plus projects in other parts of the north, including Virgen del Galir in Valdeorras, Godello country.
Why «Imperial»?
Here comes my favourite part. Imperial was born in the 1920s: CVNE says it has been made since 1920 and only in vintages the house considers exceptional. Its name has nothing to do with emperors. According to CVNE, it was adopted after a special bottling for the English market in a bottle called the «Imperial Pint».
The imperial pint is the British measure of capacity, equal to about 0.57 litres. CVNE describes it as «approximately half a litre». The press doesn’t always agree: a report in Expansión talks about «a litre». I’ll go with the winery’s version, which also matches the British measure.
I love that the house’s most solemn wine owes its name to something as practical as the size of a bottle for English customers.
A classic with medals
Imperial is aged in the so-called Eiffel hall, built in 1909 by Gustave Eiffel’s firm, according to the winery. In 2013 the American magazine Wine Spectator put Imperial at the top of its annual list, the title of «wine of the year», and it was the first Spanish wine to achieve it. CVNE mentions it proudly on its website.
Something to listen to
For a classic Rioja, the long-aged, patient kind, I suggest «At Last», by Etta James (1960). It’s soul with strings, an enormous voice and no hurry at all, just like Haro’s great reservas.
If you like classic Rioja, in my reds you’ll find another great neighbour from Haro’s Station District: Viña Ardanza, from La Rioja Alta.
♪ Enjoy it with At Last · Etta James
Classic soul from 1960, with an orchestra and no hurry: the elegance of another era for a Rioja you keep for years.
