Every year the wine world eagerly awaits the next instalment of releases from Lopez de Heredia. Today we are very pleased to offer the redoubtable 2011 Tondonia Reserva. Since inception in 1877 Lopez de Heredia has cemented itself as one of the greatest purveyors of traditional Riojas. The fabled Tondonia vineyard sits at an altitude of up to 480m on alluvial clay and limestone soils. It is flanked by the River Ebro, which provides a natural border between the sub-regions of Rioja Alta and Rioja Alevesa. The altitude and proximity to the river helps preserve freshness in the grapes, which provide wonderful flavours of bramble fruits, plum, cherry and orange rind. Time-honoured ageing in American oak and years of bottle age allows wonderfully nuanced, tertiary aromas of tobacco leaf, leather, cinnamon and nutmeg to develop.
2011 was a warm and dry vintage. As a result, this possesses a more generous fruit profile and a bit more power than the subtle 2010. It should therefore be more accessible in its youth. However, in step with its predecessors, it has the potential to age for many years to come. Anyone with a penchant for Rioja with purity, a kaleidoscopic range of flavours, and an ability to age indefinitely, should be lining their cellars with Tondonia. Tasting notes below:
Read More“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. 270,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019. 94/100” Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate
“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. 95/100”. James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com