Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Barón de Ley – Varietales Tempranillo – 2014
Rioja DOCa – Spain 🇪🇸

Overview
A 100% Tempranillo from Rioja’s esteemed Barón de Ley Varietales Collection, crafted to highlight the noble face of the region’s flagship grape. Although structured in a crianza style with a projected drinking window of 10–12 years, opening it in 2025 revealed the wine perched right on the twilight edge of maturity. This is bottle #04400, now showing the soulful evolution that Rioja Tempranillo is famed for.

Aromas & Flavors
Initially faint cherry fruit, now firmly in the tertiary spectrum: leather satchel, dried rosemary, forest floor, and faint cigar box. Gentle hints of balsamic and dried fig linger in the background.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied with softened, polymerized tannins. Acidity remains fresh enough to carry the wine, but fruit presence has largely faded, leaving savory and earthy notes to dominate.

Food Pairings
A fine match for aged Manchego cheese, braised lamb shank, mushroom-stuffed peppers, or even a rustic stew where earthy and herbal notes harmonize.

Verdict
This Tempranillo no longer plays its youthful cherry trumpet but rather resonates like the old violin sound of Rioja—mellow, textured, and contemplative. A fascinating study in maturity, best enjoyed with reflection rather than exuberance.

Did You Know?
Rioja wines are often classified not just by grape but by aging designations (Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva). This bottle leaned into crianza timing, showing beautifully at first but demonstrating how Tempranillo gracefully transitions from fruit-driven vibrancy to complex tertiary elegance. — 7 months ago

Daniel M

8.9

Citrus, white flowers, lemon zest and a tiny petroly note on the nose. Sharp acid drive and lemony notes all around the palate. It's dry, yes, but there is almost a sweet note in mid palate. The finish is fresh, tangy and zesty and keeps you salivating. It's not great but it does the trick quite well. — 3 years ago

Colin Cahoon

9.2

Cherry pie, rhubarb pie, and fresh strawberry on the nose. The palate displays dark cherry, cooked strawberry, cedar, white pepper, and solid minerality. A big bodied but silky Pinot with medium minus tannins, medium plus alcohol, and high acid. — 6 years ago

with Susan

Conrad Green

9.1

Really fresh, yeasty, with steel, lemons and good definition. A lot of promise. Young — 6 years ago

with Bex and Major-General

Evie Olson

9.2

Dude. We we’re eating Indian when we opened this bottle & it was the most perfect thing with the cuisine on the table. It’s mineral, it’s acid driven, it’s flavorful, there’s the right amount of RS with a refreshing zippiness that just kept me coming back for more. — 7 years ago

Michael Simonetti

9.1

All the grapes — 9 years ago

Maggie Phillips

9.1

Crisp and clean with a lovely medium pink color. Perfect for ringing in 2017 — 9 years ago

Andrei Trifonov-Serbinov

9.3

Excellent wine. One of my all time favorites — 10 years ago

Tara Nolan

9.5

soooo yummy!!! — 12 years ago

Michael Wong

9.0

I love it — 8 months ago

Manj Gunawardane

8.9

Crunchy, crispy, austere and racy. Wet rocks. Needed some oysters or something else creepy crawly and briny from the sea to accompany this. — 9 months ago

Ebi Obaidi

10

10 is all i can say — 2 years ago

Jim Wagonfeld

9.2

Aged Muscadet. More complex than expected. Citrus, white fruit on a intense frame of acid and minerals. Refreshing and perfect pairing with pan sautéed halibut. — 4 years ago

with Judy

Damon Lee Carter

9.0

Lovely soft flavours with rich grape overtones — 6 years ago

Ryan Foxley

9.3

This 2016 was gifted to me at a meal I was hosting. Beautifully presented bottle and a Very pleasant, well balanced wine with great aromas. This paired really well with roasted beef. — 7 years ago

Natalie Griffin

9.4

Great champagne blend with sharp bubbles and toasted caramel notes. Some green apple. Excellent especially at $25. — 7 years ago

Michael Meagher MS

Chairman/Founder Boston Sommelier Society, Beverage Director Cafe Escadrille

9.3

There is something about Chenin with some bottle age. Confected fruits, funky and nutty, oxidative edges all held together by ample acidity. — 9 years ago

Liz McNeal

9.5

Smokey nice with Ribeye — 10 years ago

Angel Martinez

Brand ambassador GHMumm Spain, Wine reviewer www.theluxury.es"

9.1

Un infanticidio terrible. El próximo dentro de 20 años. — 10 years ago

Nose Reiko

9.5

I really like this champagne. Crisp, fresh, certain aroma but not too rich. Good for matching with dishes. Not destruct the foods. Want to drink this as daily champagne. — 12 years ago

Alvaro Bustillos

9.7

Cuu amigos — 8 months ago

Roberto Carli

9.3

Great bang for the buck. Yeasty savory bread, macerated peach, overripe/candied pineapple, and a long creamy mouthfeel with fine perlage. An expressive ripe style that is very well executed for the price point  — a year ago

Joy Hammons

9.7

Excellent! It took very little time to breathe which was unexpected for a 2011. We will be buying more of this if we can find it. — 2 years ago

Eoin Danaher

9.0

Stephens day tipple... Beautiful — 5 years ago

Conrad Green

9.2

Another bottle. This rocks. A little bread and biscuit on the nose. Lean and defined. Rocks and conserved lemon. Very good. — 6 years ago

with Bex

Andrea

10

Very delicious. Peppery and sooo good — 7 years ago

Jay Eagan

9.6

Spectacular with years left. — 8 years ago

with Kristine

Nico J. Snyman

9.4

Disgorged Oct '14, Not familiar with this cuvée, but Aubry has been a hit with me, great richness, showing development, beautiful acidity. Really solid wine. — 9 years ago

Paul Lewis

9.5

A fantastic wine , amazing nose and good palate. Best paired with a oven baked dorado from Ligurian sea. — 10 years ago

Morgan Harris

Head Sommelier Aureole New York

9.2

For all your sparkling 1er Cru Meursault needs, look no further. Holler at the noble reduction. — 12 years ago