Vina Real Reserva 1968 CVNE

Professional reviews

Robert Parker (94)

The even vintages of the 1960s were all amazing. The 1968 Viña Real Gran Reserva was harvested after the May student riots in France, the year that Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were killed and Stanley Kubrick directed "2001: A Space Odyssey." It was a short crop for Viña Real, but of excellent quality. The vegetative cycle was long, 210 days. The wine was fermented in cement vats and aged in used American oak barriques until bottling in May 1974, at the same time as the 1966. A great classical wine, the Rioja prototype, with red fruit (think Garnacha!), leather, spices and smoke. Classical? You bet! "Lady Madonna," "Jumping Jack Flash," ("Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," "What a Wonderful World" and "Hey Jude"! They are all as classic as this Rioja, which is richly balsamic, fine, elegant and light in the palate, but with subtle energy and very tasty umami-like flavors. Mmm! Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.

BOW (8.50)