Cune Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva 2016

98 points James Suckling: "Polished and structured with firm, very fine tannins. Lots going on here, with layers of black fruit, dried spices, graphite, coconut and cracked pepper. Full-bodied and so intense. Keeps going. Long. The tannins are so fine and so numerous. One of the greatest modern gran reservas. 85% tempranillo, 10% graciano and 5% mazuelo. Try in 2025. (6/8/22)"

95+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2016 Imperial Gran Reserva from Cuné is a truly superb young wine. The bouquet is deep, precise and already beautifully complex, delivering scents of black cherries, black raspberries, cigar wrapper, cloves, a refined base of soil, sandalwood and a touch of toasted coconut in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, elegant and rock solid at the core, with fine soil undertow, great balance and grip, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex and utterly classical finish. This wine will eventually be liquid velvet in the mouth, but it will need some cellaring time before it gets to that stage of its evolution. Great juice. 2032-2100. (Mar/Apr 2022)"

93 points Wine Spectator: "[$98 list] This dense, concentrated red maintains a sense of grace and style throughout, with sculpted tannins married to a generous, finely knit range of black currant and plum fruit, showing hints of cedar, Earl Grey tea leaf, smoke and spice that echo on the finish. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Drink now through 2036. (2022)"