Bela Roble Ribera del Duero

Intro to Bela Roble Ribera del Duero –

Bela Roble Ribera del Duero is full of beautiful red fruit aromas complemented by soft, supple tannins and refreshing acidity.

Full tasting note and wine making –

Named for the daughter of CVNE’s founder, Eusebio Real de Asúa, this juicy Ribera extends the company’s flair for winemaking beyond the boundaries of its Rioja heartland.

The 2018 harvest was unbeatable in terms of both the health and quality of the grapes, and this has given a welcome break to wineries in the region. After a difficult 2017, where many adverse weather events took place, winter and spring were cold with plentiful rainfall, this leading to a speedy recovery of the vineyards. Harvest began on the 27th September and ended on the 12th October, and it raised expectations for the production of fresh, deeply coloured wines with long ageing potential.

Bela is produced from hand harvested, carefully selected grapes from our own vineyards situated at more than 800m altitude in the village of Villalba de Duero. The soils are calcareous clay and sandy loam and the climate here is continental. The wine making process is traditional, with pre-fermentation cold maceration in stainless steel tanks, and, following fermentation, six months ageing in American and French, new and one-year old oak barrels.

The producer –

C.V.N.E., or to give it its full name, Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España (The Northern Spanish Wine Company) was established on the 24th of March 1879 in Haro, Rioja. Set up by two brothers, Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa, their aim was to capitalise on the flourishing new trade in wine. C.V.N.E. is based in Haro’s traditional neighbourhood of the train station, in the heart of the Rioja wine region. Historically, some of the oldest wineries of Rioja Alta established themselves here in order to benefit from the ease of transport via rail to the port of Bilbao, the most efficient form of transport in those days. By 1900, the winery had an extraordinary ageing capacity of 80,000 bottles, which was most unusual at the time, as most wineries sold their wines as soon as possible.
C.V.N.E. is still controlled by the direct descendants of the founding family. Now in its fifth generation, the company has been quoted on the Madrid stock exchange since 1997.
C.V.N.E. farms half of its grape crush. The remainder is purchased from long term growers. With three wineries in the region; Cune, Viña Real and Contino the winemakers have control over quality from vineyard to bottle.

Drink with –

Delicious with BBQ meat and chorizo.