It's not what it was years ago, used to be lovely but it's now a standard fruity wine. Should be nice enough but haven't had a great rioja in over a decade.
You've got to pay through the nose for it. You ever seen the Faustino stuff? The old Faustino V used to be bloody lovely, it's pish now. Faustino I is still really good but it's about twenty quid a bottle. The VII is barely drinkable.
I can’t say I’ve ever had a nice bottle tbh. So I stopped even trying to find a decent one years ago, I just wrote it off as pish.
I'm not a fan of Faustino at all, you're right though good rioja is very expensive which is probably why I haven't had a good bottle in years.