López de Heredia strike back
It is one of Rioja's great sites. On the border between Rioja Alta and Alavesa, on a mix of alluvial and limestone soils, the Tondonia vineyard slopes down towards a bend in the river Ebro. Rafael López de Heredia understood how good a site it was, and painstakingly acquired it purchase-by-purchase over the years. It is the key holding of the winery he founded.
146 years later, Bodegas López de Heredia is going strong. It is still owned by the same family, and they still make wine the way they did back in the 1870s. Their best wine is given long aging in American oak barrels, followed by yet more aging in bottle. The 2011 Tondonia vintage is just being released (today).
2011 was a year of low rainfall, high temperatures and sweet fruit. The aromatics of the wine are now as much nut, tobacco and incense as they are red and black fruit. The texture is succulent and silky, but there is a surprisingly concentrated, youthful core underneath. It is a core that cellar aging will slowly unwind.
'The 2011 Viña Tondonia Reserva is darker and shows riper fruit, a rounder palate and some dusty tannins. A year of ripeness, concentration and tannin, the wine is powerful with the finesse of Tondonia. Tasting this next to the textbook 2010 Tondonia revealed how this has more muscle and a wider back and the 2010 epitomizes the finesse and elegance.' - 94 points, Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com, July 2022
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Autumn 2023
