JAMES SUCKLING 95 POINTS - "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."
Lopez de Heredia was among the pioneering wineries in the Rioja region of the latter half of the 1800s, and they haven't changed much since. Tondonia was their first vineyard purchase, which gave them complete control of the farming. They have their own cooperage to make and maintain oak barrels, yet another level of control over the style and quality of the finished wine. The juice is still fermented by the ambient yeasts in large oak vats that are now well over 100 years of age. In line with Riojan tradition, they use American oak, mostly well-seasoned, which provides a subtle soft character to the fruit. Over the long aging (six years in barrel, followed by more years in bottle), the myriad flavor contributions in the wine have married into a harmonious whole.
Get your bottles while they're here, and enjoy them at your Fall and Winter gatherings. This is a wine for rich & flavorful dishes, especially roasts; the winery suggests leg of lamb stuffed with garlic, rosemary, and anchovies!
Lopez de Heredia was among the pioneering wineries in the Rioja region of the latter half of the 1800s, and they haven't changed much since. Tondonia was their first vineyard purchase, which gave them complete control of the farming. They have their own cooperage to make and maintain oak barrels, yet another level of control over the style and quality of the finished wine. The juice is still fermented by the ambient yeasts in large oak vats that are now well over 100 years of age. In line with Riojan tradition, they use American oak, mostly well-seasoned, which provides a subtle soft character to the fruit. Over the long aging (six years in barrel, followed by more years in bottle), the myriad flavor contributions in the wine have married into a harmonious whole.
Get your bottles while they're here, and enjoy them at your Fall and Winter gatherings. This is a wine for rich & flavorful dishes, especially roasts; the winery suggests leg of lamb stuffed with garlic, rosemary, and anchovies!