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

Eoin Danaher

9.0

Stephens day tipple... Beautiful — 5 years ago

Damon Lee Carter

9.0

Lovely soft flavours with rich grape overtones — 6 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

Andrew Schirmer

9.1

White pepper and cherry, blackberry, herbs. Rich and savory. Amazing QPR. — 8 years ago

with Alsu

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

First Last

9.2

About me: I prefer light or medium bodied, semi-sweet, soft/smooth, fruity nose, weak or medium flavor, clean finish. Don't care for very sweet, acidic, dry, crisp, oaky, bitter, peppery, tannic, strong, heavy. Usually don't eat when I drink wine. Rating only reflects my preference.

Review: Opens creamy, quite sweet with pronounced cherry flavor. Followed by some oak (though it's prepared in steel drums) and very mild bitterness. Finish slightly mineral with mild cherry. Reminds me of port. Bought a case. — 10 years ago

Phil Kessling

9.2

2012, Clos des Vignes du Maynes, Cuvee Auguste Bourgogne, Pinot Noir. A very good Bourgogne: tart red fruit, forest floor, wet dirt, acid. Another excellent wine from Julien Guillot. — 11 years ago

Phil Kessling

9.7

2012, Clos Des Vignes Du Maynes, Cuvée 910, Macon-Cruzille, field blend of Gamay, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Very light with fresh red fruit balanced by spice and herbal undertones. This is one of my favorites, good as an apertif and pairs well with a variety of dishes. — 12 years ago

Sagee Aran

9.4

We have tasted three vintages., the 2019, 2010 and the 2015.
The 2019 was closed with no expressive attributes. The 2010, although was from a more matured vintage was surprisingly powerful however the tannins overwhelmed all other nuances ( probably needs some hours of decanting).
The 2015was at its peak. A complex and developing wine. With each tasting there are new aromas, fruit, barrel, maturation and the palate is strong, balanced with a lengthy finish — 8 months 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

Jonas Hartz

9.1

Beaujo show👌 — 5 years ago

Victor Charcan

8.9

A bit darker a d rougher than expected, with a certain bitterness — 6 years ago

Mark Lorrigan

8.9

Excellent — 7 years ago

Michael Miller

9.2

Bright red fruit and acidic awesomeness. Love — 8 years ago

Renee Chevalier

10

Thank you for sharing this great wine Martin Rivard — 9 years ago

Brent Mayeaux

Production Burn Cottage Vineyard

9.4

I was trying to think of something cool to say since I couldn't possibly describe the beauty of this wine, but I'm failing to come up with anything appropriate.

Seriously amazing. Layers. Elegance. Power without weight. — 10 years ago

Nicolas Bazinet

9.0

Mâcon-Village — 11 years ago

with Elisabeth, Martin and 1 other

Annette Franklin

9.4

Great again from Loire region. — 11 years 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

Ebi Obaidi

10

10 is all i can say — 2 years ago

Adam Kincaid

8.9

Not a typical fruit forward gamay. Very stemy, herbacious, some pepper. Meh… — 4 years ago

with Jillian

Peter Coulthard

8.9

Waitrose. Liked it. Fruity raisin taste after double aerating. Slightly drying aspect on the palate. Decent — 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

Christian Fischer

9.1

Nice, clean and tasty Burgundy — 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

Mitrich

9.7

Очень хорошо. — 11 years ago

Jeff Verellen

9.3

Butter. Butter. Coconut. — 11 years ago

Akinbayo Atere

8.9

A regular. — 13 years ago