CVNE LA VAL, ORBALLO ALBARIÑO
RÍAS BAIXAS, SPAIN 2024
These excellent Asúa Riojas from CVNE were a surprise sensation when we offered them back in November, and we’ve gone back to the source to secure more of each ... and at the exact same prices that made them so hard to resist the first time around.
CVNE is among the small handful of old-guard Rioja masters. The first Spanish winery ever to land at number one on Wine Spectator's annual Top 100, it prides itself on holding its wines back, letting time do its quiet work in their century-old cellars. As their fifth-generation CEO Victor Urrutia has said: “We age our wines longer than almost anybody ... when you buy a good red Rioja …, it's far more ready to drink, far more along in its evolution, than almost any fine red wine from anywhere else.”
The Asúa Reserva 2020 shows the dividends of house aging. It’s all red plums and cherries up front, with secondary notes of slate and citrus that keep things lively and compel you back for another sip, another pour. The energy in here is just tremendous. Five years of development has brought depth and dimension without dulling the wine's essential vibrance.
And at $22, it’s an absolute steal. Ditto the Asúa Gran Reserva 2018, which takes things further still and is, likewise, a remarkable value at $30. Seven years of patient aging have wrapped the dark fruit concentration in layers of bay leaf, smoked meat, and black cherry. The finish is long and deeply satisfying. It's the kind of wine that rewards the slow pour and the relaxed, unhurried evening.
And when was the last time you saw a critic declare a $15 wine to be “scented, pure, and beautifully balanced”?
Yeah, us neither.
So when we came across Tim Atkin's glowing, 94-point review of CVNE's Orballo Albariño Rias Baixas, we knew we had to stock up.
And stock up we did, securing a healthy allocation of this vibrant charmer just in time for the warmer weather ahead. It's a wine we could sip on the porch for hours and hours, full of the aromatic lift and delicate salinity that makes the best Albariños so compulsively drinkable. Though it also performs beautifully at the table, alongside an array of seafood preparations (ceviche, shrimp risotto, scallop beurre blanc) and cheeses.
At $15, you won’t believe your good fortune, and will be kicking yourself if you don’t pick up a few cases.
We hope you’ll take full advantage of this fantastic offer to load up on the kind of versatile, companionable wines that you’ll want to grace your table all year long.
*Offer NOT valid in-store. This offer is made pre-arrival, with wines estimated to be delivered to your preferred store in Winter 2026 (Dec. 21st - Mar. 20th. 2027). With the supply chain issues that we are seeing globally, there may be some unforeseen delays which could affect the ETA. All sale prices are the lowest available at Total Wine & More and ONLY valid through Concierge Sales. No further discounts or coupons may be applied. Offer not valid in KS, MI, NY, OK & TN. This offer will expire on Sunday, June 28th, 2026.