I’m hardly a connoisseur of fine wines, having neither the palate or the pocket book to move much beyond the $25 range for a decent bottle of plonk.

But over the years, I’ve extended my knowledge far enough to know what I really like, and which varietals best work for my tastes.

I do know that Spanish wines from the Rioja growing region, made primarily from Tempranillo grapes, are delicious. Usually $25 or under for the “reserva”  category, i.e. in Rioja, having been aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Tempranillo reserva wines represent some of the best value to be found in Edmonton’s many liquor stores.

When Sergio Soriano of the Baron de Ley Spanish wine group came through town as a guest of Nelson Gomes’ Fine Vine Imports, I didn’t pass up the chance to learn more about Spanish wines, particularly Tempranillos from Rioja, one of the two Spanish wine-growing regions that are  DOC – Denominacion de Origen Calificada – certified. (The other is Priorat, near Barcelona.)

Spain is a major wine-producing country – with 84 geographic wine-growing areas, primarily in the central and northeast parts of the country. 

That Spanish wines are inexpensive is simply because the country was late to the wine modernization game, particularly the regulations that other countries such as Italy and France brought in  that encouraged growers and wine makers (sometimes separate, sometimes one and the same) to produce identifiable high-quality wines.  In fact, the La Mancha region of central Spain is one of the world’s largest grape-growing areas, but it always produced “industrial” wines. 

For some 20 years, says Soriano, Spanish wine producers and the industry as a whole has been hard at work improving actual quality and the perception of quality.

“Rioja (in northeastern Spain) had always been very well known in the country for its wines. But for the last 10 years, there’s been a major international push.”

While the Baron de Ley wine group is now a very big business, a publically traded company with several other Spanish wine brands and an Iberian ham company within its fold, and annual revenues in the $150 million range. But the Baron de Ley wines remain the company flagship, and its founder Eduardo Santos-Riaz is still the big boss.

“Baron de Lay went ahead at the right moment, expanding and exporting as the Rioja region’s wines became internationally popular in the late ‘90s and early 2000’s,” says Soriano. “ We have been in the quality wine business since the ‘70s and were a reliable supplier. 
Three of the five  Baron de Lay wines Soriano presented -  3 Vinas Blanco Reserva 2009, Finca Monasterio 2012 and 7 Vinas Tinto Reserva 2007 were blends of Rioja grapes with an emphasis on the wine-makers’ skills. 

Two were more “pure”,  the Baron de Lay Tempranillo Reserva 2010 and the Gran Reserva 2008.  Under the requirements of the Rioja DOC designation,  to be a reserva wine, the Tempranillo must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years, to be a Gran Reserva, two years in the oak barrel, followed by a minimum of three years aging  in the bottle.

I am never very comfortable trying to describe wine tastes. Let’s just say the Baron de Ley Rempranillo Reserva 2010 was rich and mellow … and the European wine magazine Decanter gave it a top rating of 95 points. 

Hey, I bought a half-case of the Reserva – it’s great value!  My more sophisticated wine friends will think I paid way more than the $20 to $25 it sells for in Edmonton.

Fine Vine Imports is an Edmonton-based wine importing company, specializing in Spanish, Portuguese and South American wines.