Chief executive Víctor Urrutia said the purchase would boost the company’s prospects of becoming Spain’s ‘most important winery’.
Bodegas La Val is based in Salvaterra de Miño, which is located in the Condado do Tea sub-region of the Rías Baixas Denominación de Origen.
The winery was founded in 1985, and it was the driving force behind the creation of the Rías Baixas DO three years later.
La Val is renowned for its pioneering work in promoting Albariño on a global basis, and it also grows two other native varieties: Loureiro and Treixadura.
The vineyards straddle the banks of the Miño river, which give the wines their unique characteristics. They include the 35ha Arantei Estate, the 13ha Taboexa vineyard and the 5ha Porto vineyard.
It has 90ha under vine in total, according to CVNE, and it only produces wines from its own grapes.
Exports account for 70% of sales at La Val, which was run by Fernando Bandeira and Antonio Ruiloba until this sale to CVNE.
The Rioja-based group – whose full name is Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España – already has operations in Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Valdeorras and D.O. Cava, so Rías Baixas was a natural expansion.
Its wineries include CVNE, Imperial, Viña Real and Viñedos del Contino in Rioja, Roger Goulart in Penedés, Bela in Ribera del Duero, and Virgen del Galir in Valdeorras. Each estate produces a different style of wine from distinct terroir.
Urrutia said: ‘CVNE is a national treasure and our objective is to be Spain’s most important winery. Buying La Val will help us consolidate this objective.’
CVNE is now a publicly traded company, but it is still run by the descendants of founders Eusebio and Raimundo Real de Asúa, who established the business in 1879.
