R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva 2008 Magnum
R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva 2008 Magnum
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva 2008 Magnum

Lopez de Heredia
$170.00

Grape: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano And Mazuelo
Vintage: 2008
Type: Red

This red wine comes from Bodegas R. López de Heredia, founded in Haro in 1877 and still working the traditional way: fermentation in oak vats, extended aging in American oak, and release only when the bodega judges the wine ready. Viña Tondonia is the estate's flagship vineyard and reserva-level bottling, built on the house's typical Reserva ratio of roughly 75% tempranillo, 15% garnacha, and the balance graciano and mazuelo, grown on clay-limestone terraces above the Ebro. The wine left the cellar years after most reservas from other bodegas would already be on shelves, the house's patience built into the release schedule itself.

It displays a brick-garnet color with an orange rim, opening with dried cherry, tobacco leaf, and a distinctive vanilla-and-leather note from the American oak. On the palate, the medium-bodied frame is savory and resolved, balancing mature fruit against a silky, fully integrated tannin structure. Acidity remains firm and keeps the wine fresh despite its age. Forest floor and dried orange peel deepen the middle. It finishes long and gentle, the house style fully expressed.

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.

López de Heredia reputation as the ultimate Rioja traditionalist is undisputable: craft, farming, winemaking are all here and have been for a long, long time. Another remarkable feat is they also pioneered the single vineyard model in Rioja. 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.

Tondonia is the estate's top vineyard. Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta planted Viña Tondonia in 1913. The gorgeous 170 hectare Tondonia vineyard is situated in on the right bank of the Ebro river, which flows through the Rioja region.