How much did I like this wine? I bought another white from the same producer that cost a couple of bucks more, and I didn’t even have to think twice about it. Just picked it up and put it in the cart. That doesn’t happen very often; if a wine costs more than $10, I’m often seen mumbling to myself in front of the shelf.
Even more impressive is that white wines from the Rioja region of Spain have traditionally been pretty awful – badly made and even oxidized.
None of that is the case here. The Cune ($10, purchased, 12.8%), made with viura, has enough white fruit to be noticeable, maybe some lemon peel, and is amazingly fresh and clean – very impressive given the track record for white Rioja. Chill this, drink it in the summer on its own or with salads or seafood. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2014 $10 Hall of Fame.
And yes, even though the company name is CVNE, the wine is called Cune.


The blog has made substantial progress in its five-plus years of existence – helping wine drinkers appreciate cheap wine and local wine in particular, and adding to the limited number of resources written in English for beginning wine drinkers.
From the scores are stupid department: Someone on CellarTracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory web app, gave the A to Z chardonnay an 85. If this wine is only an 85, I’m going to start writing rave reviews of over-oaked, too alcoholic California chardonnay.
The joy of wine – the absolute, most wonderful thing – is tasting something you’ve never had before and knowing that it’s something you want to drink again and again.
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