This is a fabulous gran reserva from a very good but lightly heralded vintage. Aromas of spiced plum, black olive, fig, tobacco and cassis come together like a puzzle. A deep, pure palate shows near-perfect balance, while this tastes of plum, berry fruits and earthy spice. Smooth, elegant and chocolaty on the finish, this delivers all one can ask for from Rioja. Drink through 2035. — Michael Schachner

Enticing aromas of ripe strawberries and raspberries with a mineral and salty character. Iodine, too. Tree bark. Full body, fine-grained and concentrated tannins and a long and clean, salty and light coffee finish. Great balance and structure. As it should be. Drink or hold.

Vivid ruby-red. Highly perfumed aromas of red fruit liqueur, candied flowers, vanilla and incense; spicecake, vanilla and smoky mineral flourishes emerge with air. Palate-staining raspberry, cherry-vanilla and rose pastille flavors display excellent depth and energy, and a spine of juicy acidity provides added lift and back-end cut. Melds richness and vivacity with a sure hand and finishes with lingering sweetness, fine-grained tannins and a touch of smokiness. -- Josh Raynolds

93+ I'm always looking forward to tasting CVNE's Gran Reserva bottlings, especially the 2011 Imperial Gran Reserva, as the year was highly praised, and I was very curious to see how it behaved. It's a classical blend of Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo that matured in barrel for two years. It has good depth and complexity in the nose, nicely layered, very balsamic and tertiary. It feels elegant and harmonious. The palate is surprisingly fresh and vibrant, with finesse, freshness, fine and mostly resolved tannins and a fine thread of acidity that holds and lifts up the finish. - Luis Gutiérrez

Imperial focuses on CVNE’s bush vines in the Rioja Alta town of Villalba, including fruit from some mature parcels nearby in Briones and Montalvo. A blend of tempranillo (85 percent), graciano and mazuelo, it ferments in French oak vats, then ages three years in French and American oak barrels, followed by long aging in bottle before release. In fact, it needs more bottle age, as the wine is reduced, with a rubber scent when first poured. That reduction doesn’t get in the way of the tense, purple-black fruit or the mineral power of the tannins. And by the next day, the reduction is gone, leaving a luxurious red wine in its wake, deep and silken, smoky and refined, while still tough in its structure. Built for long development in bottle, the top vintages of Imperial live for decades.