1 | Wine | Tempranillo, $20 to $50, 86 or higher

"It has a soft, mint-tinged bouquet with light dried rose petal tones. The palate is medium-bodied with a spicy entry, prickly red berry fruit, cedar and graphite originating from the oak. The finish is quite sharp with a dash of white pepper lingering on the aftertaste. This is a perfectly pleasant Toro red."

"Pale-rimmed ruby-red. Pungent aromas of dried cherry, spicecake and vanilla, with smoke and cigarbox overtones. Sweet, palate-coating cherry and cassis flavors are braced by gentle acidity and become spicier with air. Mocha and smoke note linger on a long, supple and gently tannic finish with very good energy."

"Deep ruby. Raspberry, redcurrant, Asian spices and on the perfumed nose and in the mouth. Sweet, sappy and focused, with silky texture and very good intensity. Finishes spicy and long, with lingering notes of star anise and raspberry. This is extremely graceful for a wine from Ribera del Duero."

"Saturated ruby. Pungent cherry and dark berry aromas, with spice and floral nuances adding complexity. Sweet and concentrated, but with excellent cut and vivacity to its dark fruit flavors. Builds and deepens toward the back, finishing with a sappy floral quality and resonating spiciness. Offers very good richness of flavor with no excess fat."

"Dark ruby-colored with a garnet rim, it displays a lovely nose of Asian spices, incense, tobacco, balsamic, and blackberry. On the palate it has exceptional depth, layers of spicy black fruit, excellent ripeness, and an elegant personality. Upon release it should continue to evolve for another 5-6 years and drink well through 2040."

"It has a very well-defined bouquet with crisp blackberry, cassis and licorice-scented fruit with fine minerality. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannins, crisp acidity and a lovely licorice, white pepper and citrus-fresh finish that is linear and nicely focused."

"Medium purple in color, it offers up an already complex nose of mineral, Asian spices, lavender, smoke, a hint of balsamic, and blackberry. With plenty of structure, excellent depth, and layered flavors, this lengthy effort will benefit from another 2-3 years of cellaring and will offer a drinking window extending from 2012 to 2020."

"Sexy aromas of redcurrant, cherry-vanilla, pipe tobacco and dried flowers. Fresh, spicy, impressively delineated red fruit flavors show very good depth, with the tobacco and vanilla elements carrying through in the mouth. Elegantly styled Rioja, finishing with a fine dusting of tannins and excellent spice-driven persistence. Shows more vivacity than the powerful 2004 version, which is of equal quality but in a different style."

"The 2010 Volver (100% Tempranillo) is a single vineyard, outstanding effort that was aged in French oak for 14 months prior to being bottled unfiltered. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by copious aromas of black currants, black cherries, pepper, underbrush and licorice. This well-made, medium to full-bodied effort should drink well for 4-5 years."

"The 2005 Vina Arana Reserva has a fresh bouquet of orange blossom, quince, violets and dark cherries. The palate is succulent on the entry with vivacious maraschino cherry, red currant and blood orange. It displays a very fine build and a silky smooth texture that segues to a poised, mint-tinged, bright and animated finish."