Second place finish at the Oct. 2010 North of 9 Fine Wine Rioja tasting: The 1996 Marqués de Vitoria showed no hard edges whatsoever and some lovely earthy notes while also surprisingly deep in colour with no sign of browning at the edges for a 14 year old bottle. Quite nice.

TASTING NOTE: ... Marques de Vitoria is made with only Tempranillo and aged in French oak casks for 24 months plus six years in bottle before it is released. It shows notes of Szechwan peppercorn, dried berry, coffee and red currant. The palate shows no sign of deterioration, the fruit has a slight raisin character and the subtle tannins are dusty. Good price for a well made twelve year old wine. (Allan Kerr, www.gangofpour.com, March 1, 2008)