88 Points | International Wine Cellar , November/December 2000

Deep full healthy red. Lively, pure, deeply fruity aroma complicated by notes of smoke, nuts, cinnamon, coffee and pepper; less evidence of new oak here than in the above. As sweet as the above but perhaps a bit less opulent and dense; offers good vinosity and snap but is actually a bit lower in acidity. Shows its tannic spine today, but perhaps there just less buffering middle-palate material here. The Baron de Oña wine, from fruit picked later for greater ripeness, is typically around 13% alcohol, vs. 12% to 12.5% for those from La Rioja Alta.