Medium ruby. Bacon fat, meat juices, porcini mushrooms, and holly berries on the nose. Parallel tasting notes with intense red raspberries . stellar wine.
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Very nice. Needed a couple of hours to integrate the tannins. Lovely dark fruit, leather, smoke and sweetness on the nose (mocha?) then fruity, blackberry on the palate with some acidity.
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Exceeded expectations, featuring aromas and flavors of black cherry, leather, cigar box, and candied citrus. Lovely mouthfeel, it's in a great place right now.
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Nose: Dark, full, oaky, balanced. Palete: Oak, some vanilla, medium dry tannins, nicely balanced acidity. Mature but a little watery. Has it passed due date? Not a hint of the high alcohol of 14%. Long aftertaste as the oak hits your nose from behind ... a little bit to much for my taste. But this is a traditional Rioja and that´s it. Medium QPR. Had it with deer cream stew. Quiet OK to drink on it´s own
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Still medium ruby. Cassis and black fruit on the nose, nicely defined with pencilly wood accents. Palate is perfectly balanced and harmonised. Restrained and dignified. A lovely buy. Only regret is not decanting it. Drinking now. Will I buy again? Yes for sure. Now till end 2021.
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Decanted this for 2 hours and was rewarded with a wonderful rioja to pair with our filet mignon with gourmet mushroom assortment sautéed with wine. Really long finish, smooth on the palate, with hints of licorice, dark currants and berry. The only c9mplaint from our guests was that there weren’t another two bottles to open!!! That’s what you want to hear on any bottle you open while having a dinner party. Off I go to purchase more. For $28 it’s worth every penny...
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Ce vin est l'un de mes préférés: le nez est complexe et alléchant, laissant découvrir un parfum réconfortant de cannelle, de vanille, de chêne et de mûre. Charnu, il exprime en bouche un équilibre admirable, avec une finale ample qui se prolonge pendant de délicieuses secondes.
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Nyanserad, kryddig, utvecklad smak med fatkaraktär, inslag av mörka körsbär, tobak, choklad, kanel, korinter och vanilj. Serveras vid 16-18°C till rätter av lamm- eller nötkött.Doft: Fat, fikon, dill, kanel.
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Lots of vanilla, spice and dark fruit. Pleasantlybfresh palate, layered spices and fruit nicely integrated with good structure. Could still age 5-10 years, but very enjoyable and great value now.
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It’s obvious that this is a quality wine, but the real Geist of the wine isn’t really there. Perhabs it has reached it’s peak a few years ago? Still fresh though, with tough acids and tannins. Aromas: mostly dried fruit, tobacco etc. 20€ is too pricy though.
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Second bottle, and again this delivers. Also my tasting group liked it a lot. The wood element is of quality and not overdone, body is not as gigantic as in some other Spanish stuff, and there's a really nice acidity which provides good balance and results in this wine feeling still quite fresh even though from 2011.
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Nice surprise. Somehow Baron de Ley for me usually stands for dependable but unexciting qualities, but this offers much more than that.
Already the scent is much fresher, shinier and less wood-dominated than expected. And this continues in the mouth: this is surprisingly crisp and lively, with nice acidity leading the way and no giant-body to crush it. In Rioja terms I would even call the body restrained.
The wood again is also being used in a decent, nuanced way, so in total this wine is quite a lot of fun, as it still has enough meat on the bone to be serious but it is well balanced by (still) primary fruit, acidity, and wood.
Should be also very good with food.
Costs apparently ca. 20 EUR, which is OK-ish, perhaps slightly on the higher side. I guess though that more experienced tasters will see more value for money as this is clearly far beyond punching with concentration.
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Aromatic red berry, toast, olive, leather, vanilla oak and sappy wood nose. Medium-full bodied with good fruit, freshness and grip. Well-balanced and flavourful; approachable now or good for another 10 ageing. 4.5/5
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Coming from Rioja Alta. Jackie loves the nose on it. 85 year old vines, hand pick, sorting table, 3 years in oak French and america half and half and then another three years in the bottle. They always say they make a clean Gran Reserva. Soft fruit and richness. Jackie notes a nice fruit character and then the oak at the end.
2011 was a cold vintage in Rioja, but an excellent one I am being told.
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Very nice precision and acidity to propel a fruit forward flavoursome mouthfeel; spice light white pepper vanilla cherry. A clearly delineated finish of acceptable length rounds this out nicely.
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Mainly Tempranillo with some Graciano in the mix. Aged for 2 years in barriques (50% American oak, 50% French oak) and for further 3 years in bottles. 14% alcohol, 2 g/l residual sugar, 5,6 g/l acidity. Tasted blind in VV.
Opaque, deep blood red color. Savory, somewhat developed and enjoyably complex nose with aromas of savory oak spice, some sweeter toasty tones, a little bit of ripe figgy fruit, light notes of pruney dark fruit, a hint of tar and a touch of dried cherry. The wine is full-bodied and quite acid-driven on the palate with juicy and enjoyably intense flavors of ripe dark fruits, some toasty oak spice, a little bit of pruney character, light savory oak tones of woody spice, a hint of vanilla and a touch of peppery spice. Overall the wine comes across as quite structured and moderately tightly-knit with moderately high acidity and quite ample, firm tannins. The finish is long, moderately grippy and quite rich with ripe, juicy flavors of black cherries, roasted spices, some dried pruney fruits, a little bit of savory, woody oak and a hint of sweeter, toasty spice.
A very impressive, balanced and enjoyably complex Rioja Gran Reserva that is starting to show the first signs of age, yet still is very young and in need of further aging. The balance between the structure, the fruit and the surprisingly judicious use of wood is great here, making the wine surprisingly enjoyable already but promising a lot of future aging potential. As the wine isn't as rich and vanilla-driven as the Baron de Ley Riojas used to be, this might not be as obviously Rioja wine, but nevertheless the wine is very balanced and enjoyable. Good value at 24,94€.
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5/30/2021 - TexasBob Likes this wine: 94 Points
Medium ruby. Bacon fat, meat juices, porcini mushrooms, and holly berries on the nose. Parallel tasting notes with intense red raspberries . stellar wine.
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4/17/2021 - Garrev Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wonderful. The wine has beautifully aged offering a deep robust taste of fruit, oak and earthy. Love it
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11/21/2020 - Sondres Likes this wine: 80 Points
Nice and ballanced. Drank with filet mingnon. Great pairing.
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10/17/2020 - Jan-Åke Persson wrote:
Typical for style of the region. Quite enjoyable. Probably at its peak
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10/3/2020 - Deer and pigeon Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very nice. Needed a couple of hours to integrate the tannins. Lovely dark fruit, leather, smoke and sweetness on the nose (mocha?) then fruity, blackberry on the palate with some acidity.
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6/3/2020 - Fulbod Likes this wine: 90 Points
Peaking now. Decant 1 hour.
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5/17/2020 - Jan-Åke Persson wrote:
Time to drink. Doubt that it will improve further.
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1/8/2020 - ziavino wrote: 91 Points
Exceeded expectations, featuring aromas and flavors of black cherry, leather, cigar box, and candied citrus. Lovely mouthfeel, it's in a great place right now.
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10/19/2019 - Bjorn1510 Likes this wine: 87 Points
Nose: Dark, full, oaky, balanced. Palete: Oak, some vanilla, medium dry tannins, nicely balanced acidity. Mature but a little watery. Has it passed due date? Not a hint of the high alcohol of 14%. Long aftertaste as the oak hits your nose from behind ... a little bit to much for my taste. But this is a traditional Rioja and that´s it. Medium QPR. Had it with deer cream stew. Quiet OK to drink on it´s own
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8/31/2019 - Deo68 Likes this wine: 85 Points
Still medium ruby. Cassis and black fruit on the nose, nicely defined with pencilly wood accents. Palate is perfectly balanced and harmonised. Restrained and dignified. A lovely buy. Only regret is not decanting it.
Drinking now. Will I buy again? Yes for sure. Now till end 2021.
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6/8/2019 - Rootmann Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted this for 2 hours and was rewarded with a wonderful rioja to pair with our filet mignon with gourmet mushroom assortment sautéed with wine. Really long finish, smooth on the palate, with hints of licorice, dark currants and berry. The only c9mplaint from our guests was that there weren’t another two bottles to open!!! That’s what you want to hear on any bottle you open while having a dinner party. Off I go to purchase more. For $28 it’s worth every penny...
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4/15/2019 - DrinkingLawyer wrote: 88 Points
Ce vin est l'un de mes préférés: le nez est complexe et alléchant, laissant découvrir un parfum réconfortant de cannelle, de vanille, de chêne et de mûre. Charnu, il exprime en bouche un équilibre admirable, avec une finale ample qui se prolonge pendant de délicieuses secondes.
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3/8/2019 - Hasmannerne Likes this wine: 90 Points
A classical Rioja. However, a bit to the acidic side..almost overpowers the fruit flavors. Lots of oak in the nose, less dominant on the palate.
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2/23/2019 - Tottifar wrote:
Nyanserad, kryddig, utvecklad smak med fatkaraktär, inslag av mörka körsbär, tobak, choklad, kanel, korinter och vanilj. Serveras vid 16-18°C till rätter av lamm- eller nötkött.Doft: Fat, fikon, dill, kanel.
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2/18/2019 - marcellevi Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lots of red ripe fruit, juicy, spicy and good acidity. Fairly light and aromatic - had with pasta.
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2/9/2019 - larserikm Likes this wine: 89 Points
Lots of vanilla, spice and dark fruit. Pleasantlybfresh palate, layered spices and fruit nicely integrated with good structure. Could still age 5-10 years, but very enjoyable and great value now.
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1/27/2019 - adamanko Likes this wine: 91 Points
Blood, meat and wonderful fruit underneath. Im loving it. I want more. Some spices as well. 90-92
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1/23/2019 - Njalla wrote: 88 Points
It’s obvious that this is a quality wine, but the real Geist of the wine isn’t really there. Perhabs it has reached it’s peak a few years ago? Still fresh though, with tough acids and tannins. Aromas: mostly dried fruit, tobacco etc. 20€ is too pricy though.
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1/12/2019 - fhayek Likes this wine: 90 Points
Second bottle, and again this delivers. Also my tasting group liked it a lot.
The wood element is of quality and not overdone, body is not as gigantic as in some other Spanish stuff, and there's a really nice acidity which provides good balance and results in this wine feeling still quite fresh even though from 2011.
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12/9/2018 - fhayek wrote: 89 Points
Nice surprise. Somehow Baron de Ley for me usually stands for dependable but unexciting qualities, but this offers much more than that.
Already the scent is much fresher, shinier and less wood-dominated than expected. And this continues in the mouth: this is surprisingly crisp and lively, with nice acidity leading the way and no giant-body to crush it. In Rioja terms I would even call the body restrained.
The wood again is also being used in a decent, nuanced way, so in total this wine is quite a lot of fun, as it still has enough meat on the bone to be serious but it is well balanced by (still) primary fruit, acidity, and wood.
Should be also very good with food.
Costs apparently ca. 20 EUR, which is OK-ish, perhaps slightly on the higher side. I guess though that more experienced tasters will see more value for money as this is clearly far beyond punching with concentration.
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11/12/2018 - JP Lefebvre Likes this wine: 90 Points
Excellent Rioja !
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10/27/2018 - ccarter5181 wrote: 88 Points
Pop and pour. Decent Rioja but didn't really impress. Not too expressive, even after 2 hours of air.
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10/2/2018 - Double-A Likes this wine: 93 Points
Aromatic red berry, toast, olive, leather, vanilla oak and sappy wood nose. Medium-full bodied with good fruit, freshness and grip. Well-balanced and flavourful; approachable now or good for another 10 ageing.
4.5/5
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5/14/2018 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Coming from Rioja Alta. Jackie loves the nose on it. 85 year old vines, hand pick, sorting table, 3 years in oak French and america half and half and then another three years in the bottle. They always say they make a clean Gran Reserva. Soft fruit and richness. Jackie notes a nice fruit character and then the oak at the end.
2011 was a cold vintage in Rioja, but an excellent one I am being told.
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2/24/2018 - bengti Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very nice precision and acidity to propel a fruit forward flavoursome mouthfeel; spice light white pepper vanilla cherry. A clearly delineated finish of acceptable length rounds this out nicely.
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2/17/2018 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points
Mainly Tempranillo with some Graciano in the mix. Aged for 2 years in barriques (50% American oak, 50% French oak) and for further 3 years in bottles. 14% alcohol, 2 g/l residual sugar, 5,6 g/l acidity. Tasted blind in VV.
Opaque, deep blood red color. Savory, somewhat developed and enjoyably complex nose with aromas of savory oak spice, some sweeter toasty tones, a little bit of ripe figgy fruit, light notes of pruney dark fruit, a hint of tar and a touch of dried cherry. The wine is full-bodied and quite acid-driven on the palate with juicy and enjoyably intense flavors of ripe dark fruits, some toasty oak spice, a little bit of pruney character, light savory oak tones of woody spice, a hint of vanilla and a touch of peppery spice. Overall the wine comes across as quite structured and moderately tightly-knit with moderately high acidity and quite ample, firm tannins. The finish is long, moderately grippy and quite rich with ripe, juicy flavors of black cherries, roasted spices, some dried pruney fruits, a little bit of savory, woody oak and a hint of sweeter, toasty spice.
A very impressive, balanced and enjoyably complex Rioja Gran Reserva that is starting to show the first signs of age, yet still is very young and in need of further aging. The balance between the structure, the fruit and the surprisingly judicious use of wood is great here, making the wine surprisingly enjoyable already but promising a lot of future aging potential. As the wine isn't as rich and vanilla-driven as the Baron de Ley Riojas used to be, this might not be as obviously Rioja wine, but nevertheless the wine is very balanced and enjoyable. Good value at 24,94€.
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2/5/2018 - PGH.SDK Likes this wine:
This is a good mid-grade Gran Reserva. Consider buying at $25-26/bottle.
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9/12/2017 - DrZett Likes this wine: 90 Points
One of my favorite Gran Reservas in this price range. Good to drink now but it will benefit from 4-5 more years in the bottle.
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