Following on from my recent report of new varieties in Rioja, I was pleased to see that Tesco are now stocking two wines from Rioja producer Baron de Ley’s new Varietales range. They consist of a Maturana and a Graciano, and both are competitively priced at £8.99.
I’ll be honest: both might have been slightly better had they not been subjected to the usual punishing Rioja barrel regime (too long in American oak, without topping up, resulting in an oxidative environment with an oak imprint that masks the fruit like clumsy make up to a face). But they’re still pretty smart wines for this price point. I particularly liked the Graciano, which I think is a very interesting variety.
Baron de Ley Varietales Maturana 2009 Rioja
Sweet ripe berry fruits nose with some notes of caramel and herbs, as well as vanilla and wood spice. The palate is dense, ripe, spicy and tannic with significant oak impact. It’s a richly fruited wine, though, with real impact. 88/100
Baron de Ley Varietales Graciano 2009 Rioja
Lovely nose of fresh, bright red fruits with a subtle, complex warm herby character. The palate is bright and fresh with nice tannic grip and good acidity, showing red fruits with a bit of oak in the background. Nicely complex and expressive. 90/100
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4 Comments on Baron de Ley’s Graciano and Maturana
Very pleased to read this post Jamie. I had no idea Baron de Ley were making single varietal wines (as they’re regarded I guess for their normal rioja tempranillo based wines and their 7 vinas incorporating white varietals).
Graciano seems to be more popular in Rioja now with producers producing better single varietal showings. I will seek these out and give them a try as I’m a fan of Contino’s Graciano, but sadly it’s five times the price of these!
Thanks
The Maturana is £9.99, the Graciano a sobering £14.99, not the £8.99 you quote, at least in the TEE branch where I saw them. Don’t M and S stock a varietal Graciano from Aldea for around a tenner?
Picked up a bottle of each last night. Both were priced at £9.99 IIRC. Not tried them yet, though.
In Tesco Norfolk we had Baron de Ley-Maturana priced at £4.99 last week so I emptied the shelf (unfortunately only 6 bottles)
The Graciano was and is priced at £9.99, but they must have found out about the pricing so the shelf for Maturana is now empty and the shelf label gone…