Quintessential Spanish Wines to Spearhead the New Year

Please note: In partnership with Serendipity, the following wines from Arano Imports USA are available in California.

Countdowns, clinks, resolve and resolutions— we’re all looking forward to a better year ahead of us. The question is, what memorable wines will you be enjoying as you savor your final moments of 2021? We turned to the folks at Arano Imports USA for the answer.

Arano Imports represents an array of select, site-specific wines from Spain— a country where you’ll find a bounty of big reds and bubbles this holiday season. They work with artisan brands who labor to keep sustainable and social practices at their core. Each producer distinctly represents regional traditions in winemaking, innovative technology and, of course, unforgettably great wine. Whether you’re loyal to your sparkling wine at midnight or are simply seeking out a reliable, characterful bottle of red, these are the wines you’ll want to have on the ready for 2022.

Celebrate Longevity with Roger Goulart

Few Cava producers can boast a history as long or as reputable as Roger Goulart. Founded in 1882 in Catalonia, Roger Goulart was one of the first wineries to embrace prolonged bottle aging. From root to flute they tout the beauty, elegance, and refinement of a deliberately aged bottle. While the current DO requires 15 and 30 months of aging for Reserva and Gran Reserva labels, respectively, Roger Goulart exceeds and sometimes doubles those standards. In 2018 they were purchased by the CUNE company and continue their tradition of Xarel-lo dominant Cavas aged in their fabled underground cellar.

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The wine cave cellars at Rouger Goulart wind deeply, 100 feet below sea level.

Raise a glass of their Gran Reserva Cava Brut for an intense and velvety toast. Or ring in the new year with a bright and lively kiss from their Organic Reserva Cava Brut.

Salute to History with

CUNE

A legendary winery established in 1879, CUNE is credited as the reason for Rioja’s meteoric rise to international wine fame. Between championing gravity-led processes and their eventual acquisition of like-minded wineries (all of which are included in this article), they’ve had a profound impact on the state of Spanish wine. From their humble beginnings near a railroad station in Haro, they’ve evolved into a winery that is exciting, dependable, and focused. Today their vineyards span the acclaimed plains of Rioja Alta and Alavesa, and their wines mature in the expanse that is their notable Eiffel cellar.

CUNE was initially started by brothers Eusebio & Raymundo Real de Asúa & has been a family operation for 5 generations.

Impress holiday company with CUNE’s silky and complex Gran Reserva red blend. For a mindful start to 2022, why not try an organic wine? CUNE’s Organic Tempranillo is fermented with wild yeasts and has notes of forest fruits, florals, and light spice.

Revel in the Rarity of Imperial

Located within the original CUNE facility, this tiny winery made its debut in 1920. Their philosophy? At a time when many winemakers were focused solely on what they could make, Imperial shifted the conversation towards what that they should make— regardless of quantity or cost. They decided to only produce wine in outstanding harvests. As a result they’ve garnered a reputation for precision, power, and award-winning world class.

In 2013 Imperial became the first Spanish winery to be named the World’s Best Wine by Wine Spectator.

Pay tribute to a new vintage with this exceptional vintage wine: Imperial Gran Reserva Tinto 2014. Intriguing and textured, this iconic Rioja is reminiscent of licorice, clove, nutmeg, tobacco leaf and roasted coffee.

Find Renewal with Monopole

Meet Spain’s oldest registered white wine: Monopole. First produced in 1915, this atypical white Rioja was made by adding Manzanilla sherry to Viura wine. It was a popular mainstay across Spain until the 80’s, when global wine trends forced its abandon. It wasn’t until a decade ago that CUNE sought to revive this law-defiant blend. They called upon Ezequiel Garcia, winemaker from the 40’s-70’, to assist in its recreation alongside chief winemaker Maria Larrea.

Oxidative and surprising, Monopole Clasico shows that it’s never too late to make a solid comeback. Try it on it’s own, or taste it against it’s silky, Viura-based counterpart Monopole Blanco.

From groundbreaking Rioja wines to archetypal Cavas, the authentic Spanish wines of Arano Imports anchor past to present. Whichever way you’re ringing in the future, look to these quintessential bottles to set the tone for a convivial new year.

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