2008 Vina Tondonia: a mellow and complex beauty

29 Jul 2020

The cutting edge of tradition

Fashions come and fashions go, in wine as in everything else. I remember once being gently mocked for my attachment to Bodegas Lopez de Heredia and their 'out-of-date winemaking'. Back in the 1990s, wineries both in Spain and internationally were pumping wines up with more extraction and highly-toasted new oak. The demise of Lopez de Heredia's ultra-traditionalist model was imminently predicted. But no. A quarter-century on, and Lopez de Heredia remain resolutely wedded to the way they have always done things. Their red wines still undergo long aging in mostly old American oak, and are only released when the bodega judges them properly ready. (Although they will continue to age gracefully for decades). Where else in the world of wine would 2008 be the new vintage release?

Their 2008 is a mellow and complex beauty, full of cherry and orange aromas, a balsamic note, a touch of herb and smoked meat. There's also a nice freshness to it, thanks to the (relatively) mild summer. The old timers at the bodega are describing it as a classic Rioja vintage, like the slightly cooler ones of yesteryear.

143 years after it was founded, Lopez de Heredia remains entirely family-owned; perhaps that explains the commitment to doing things the way they always have done. These days, fashion has taken another turn. The cutting edge in Rioja now is all about site specificity and named vineyards. But funnily enough, that's the way things always have been at Lopez de Heredia; every red wine they release is named after the vineyard it comes from. And on the border of Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, on a propitious bend that slopes down towards the River Ebro, is their very finest site. Meticulously assembled from the purchases of yesteryear, it is the vineyard Tondonia. /NT

Offered subject to confirmation; for shipment December 2020