Jesús Barquín | Deep, almost opaque cherry. Nose lacks definition, with hints of reduction. Palate is better: balanced, with pleasant acidity and soft tannins. Long finish with hints of menthol and licorice. | 90

Andrew Jefford | Saturated black-red. Warm, complex, with some sense of the maturity of age; indeed, it almost has a settled, claretty balance and drawing-room warmth that is very becoming. A fine aromatic profile of wonderful subtlety, drawing the drinker into the glass. Smooth, soft, settled, and refined on the palate—again, the calm of maturity here. A very successful style, very true to the place: dark, grave, calm, lingering, and long, with stony sobriety qualifying the now- settled fruits. Perfect moderate concentration for drinking pleasure, Léoville Barton-style. It’s not the showiest wine on the table (the least oaky of my top-scorers), but it’s hard to think of a better example to make a quiet case for this extraordinary region to a drinker who had never tried a Bierzo before. | 94

Richard Mayson | Deep, youthful color; ripe and minty on the nose, though not as expressive as some of the other wines here; attractive savory fruit, tempered by cedary oak and backed by firm gritty tannins that dominate on the finish. Rather short. | 82