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

Sipping Fine Wine

9.5

Ruby red color with aromas of rich red fruits, sweet spice, smoke and cedar notes, aged in French oak. On the palate flavors of black cherry, blackberry and currants with vanilla, tobacco, spice and licorice. Fine ripe tannins, long finish ending with fruit, sweet spice and toasty oak character. Nice, good now but more time is better! — 3 years ago

Kayla Latterell

9.6

Beautiful rose with a strawberry citrus nose and a crisp, bright taste. Dry but with a tinge of a light strawberry jammyness. — 6 years ago

Peter Coulthard

8.9

Waitrose. Liked it. Fruity raisin taste after double aerating. Slightly drying aspect on the palate. Decent — 6 years ago

Loren Gesinsky

9.3

If an Amontillado and Aszu mated .... — 8 years ago

Brett Pinkin

9.5

Always a winner :) — 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

Mitrich

9.7

Очень хорошо. — 11 years ago

Annette Franklin

9.4

Great again from Loire region. — 11 years ago

Akinbayo Atere

8.9

A regular. — 13 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

Delectable Wine

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9.4

The 2021 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru retains its serious and backward nose, very saline and still with that faint tang of kelp/Japanese nori. The palate is beautifully balanced with a keen thread of acidity, notes of orange rind and a more malic finish than I recall, yet with the same wondrous elegance and poise. This will age wonderfully in bottle and require time for the aromatics to awaken. (Neal Martin, Vinous, September 2023)
— 3 years ago

Karie Kwiat

9.0

Full bodied — 5 years ago

Curtis Lester

9.3

Pleasantly surprised by how great this Malbec tastes! It needed no time to breathe. Love the lack of acidity which kept each pour incredibly smooth. I will always keep a bottle on hand. — 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

edward Simpson

9.5

Best white ever, wine 64, €32, ticks all the boxes.... — 9 years ago

Josh Grove

9.3

A bit oxidative and nutty, a bit floral. Incredibly flexible with food. — 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

Juan Falcon

9.9

Brakefast in a beer. I wont dare to describe not to offend conosieurs? Just that I like dark beers just as much and this is the best Ive ever had. — 11 years ago

Mitchell Mulder

9.3

Welcome Fall — 13 years ago

Ebi Obaidi

10

10 is all i can say — 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

cameron

9.1

v good very good — 3 years 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

Renee Chevalier

10

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

Liz McNeal

9.5

Smokey nice with Ribeye — 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

John Ridge

9.5

First time drinking a Bordeaux and was very pleased with this one. — 11 years ago