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RED WINE

Lopez de Heredia 'Viña Tondonia' Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2011

  • $66.00

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TEMPRANILLO and BLEND
EARTHY & COMPLEX
ORGANIC FARMING
CRITIC SCORE 90+, WOMAN-MADE, and COLLECTIBLE & CELLAR-WORTHY
RIOJA
SPAIN
This family-owned winery makes highly individual wines in a style essentially unchanged since its inception in 1877. They grow all their grapes using organic methods, ferment using only natural yeasts and do not filter their wines. They employ four full-time coopers to make their barrels.
  • Winemaker: Mercedes López de Heredia
  • Farming: Organic
  • Variety: Tempranillo (75%), Garnacho (15%), Graciano and Mazuelo (10%)
  • Terroir: Tondonia single vineyard,
  • Vinification: Hand-harvested, destemmed, spontaneous yeast fermentation in large, neutral oak vats, then racked into Bordeaux barrels to finish ML.
  • Aging: 6 years in aged in 225 litre Bordeaux-style American oak barrels Racked twice a year and fined with fresh egg whites.
  • Tasting Note: Light fresh texture with notes of vanilla and dried berry aromas, sweet fruit and lead pencil notes dominate this wine, whose brightness and liveliness promise decades of potential. Rich, very dry, smooth, developed. Firm tannins, balanced.

Gravonia, Tondonia, Bosconia and Cubillo are all individual vineyards which have been in the family for generations. Patience is a family watchword, as this bodega thinks nothing of waiting twenty years before releasing a wine. Their “Crianzas” are aged like others’ “Reservas” and “Gran Reservas”; the “Reservas” as long as others’ top “Gran Reservas”. And the ultimate accolade of “Gran Reserva” is accorded to only the very greatest vintages. Rarely are there more than three of these in a decade. These are uniquely traditional Riojas of massive, boundary-crossing repute. Both red and white are capable of staggering longevity.

Scores: 95 James Suckling
A traditional beauty that effuses iron, warm earth and savory tobacco leaves, together with plums, spices and orange zest. This is juicy and still tight, with firm but savory tannins. Medium-weight and quite zesty in texture, as is the case with the other López de Heredia reds tasted this session. Drink now or hold.