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. — 10 months ago

Ola Lenin

9.3

Schoolbook pinot with warm strawberry and sloeberry fruit. Cranberries on the finish. Some oak and spices on the finish. Simply very enjoyable! — 4 years ago

Damon Lee Carter

9.0

Lovely soft flavours with rich grape overtones — 6 years ago

Roberto Carli

9.3

Damn! Velvety body, baking spices, long finish with caramel notes and bright acidity to balance it — 8 years ago

Jim McCusker

9.5

It’s not the Grand Cru, but it’s on tap at Row 34. Awesome! — 8 years ago

Rich Reader

10

More burgundian than California in its execution, a sideways moment in which we loosen our embrace of the Sonoma Coast, and get our Mind Behind this masterpiece. You should also mind your behind. — 10 years ago

with Guadalupe

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

Angel Martinez

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

9.1

Un infanticidio terrible. El próximo dentro de 20 años. — 11 years ago

Mark Lindzy

9.0

Tart cherries, sassy fresh! — 12 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

Eric I

9.2

Great wine to pair with an LSU loss — 3 years ago

Michael Chelus

9.0

Apple, lemon candy, dried apricot, oak and hints of peach. Great acidity and balance. — 3 years ago

Justin Lintz

9.2

Good everyday — 5 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

Andrew Neblett

9.3

Nice slight fizz. Bright fruit. Medium body. Easy drinking. — 8 years ago

Olivia Hellewell

9.3

Drinkable AF. — 10 years ago

Phil

8.9

Earthy and tannic. Like my golf game. — 10 years ago

Matthew Nocas

9.6

2002 holding up very nicely -- elegance with structure! — 10 years ago

Maggie Harrison

9.1

peach, ripe pear, medium weight, I likey — 11 years ago

Nino Milenkovski

9.1

Dusty as my grandfather basement!Love it!! — 13 years ago

Jenks

9.0

Apparently this translates to “up all night” or something heeeeeyyyyy — 2 years 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

Gene Harlow

9.5

2019 blend and it is outstanding. This is a fun find and seriously good! Dark fruits with a great balance of oak. Elyse has really done well with this deep balanced red blend. — 3 years ago

Eoin Danaher

9.0

Stephens day tipple... Beautiful — 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

David Lee

9.0

Silkier, spicier than the Santa Barbara. — 8 years ago

Nick Ferrall

9.1

Dangerously gulpable — 8 years ago

David Shaw

9.0

Purple red in color, dense. Blueberry blackberry minty smoke and wood notes in nose. Berry cherry smoke notes in mouth (later morphing almost into cola) with some tongue coating astringency in finish. Strawberry and blackberry aftertaste. A little aging might polish the few minor edges remaining in the wine — 10 years ago

Alex Papanicolaou

9.4

Ganevat for the win! — 11 years ago

Mo Cherry

9.3

Always a happy day when my ABC arrives — 11 years ago