R. López de Heredia
About López de Heredia
An exemplary producer of traditional Rioja, López de Heredia was founded by Don Rafael López de Heredia in 1877, shortly after the phylloxera outbreak forced the French to explore neighbouring Spain for alternative sources of quality grapes. 4 generations and more than 140 years later, López de Heredia continues making wine in pretty much the same way as before, and “can make a very good claim to be the only producer whose philosophy focuses on a blend of tradition and tradition” (Simon Field MW, Decanter).
The only bodega to be awarded a "Diploma de Garantía" (Diploma of Guarantee, displayed on all back labels) from Rioja’s regulating body for using only native grapes since its founding, López de Heredia is also the sole bodega in Spain to hand-craft all their barrels.
Viniculture
Today, the observation tower he designed to watch the vines is still a local landmark. Lopez de Heredia makes great traditional red and white Rioja. The white is particularly rare as most white Rioja is a young modern style. The wine is aged in large Bordeaux sized barrels from old mostly American oak, in their warren-like cellars.
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Prices:
| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Rioja | 1 | - |
Inc. VAT
£304.84 |
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Rioja | 1 | - |
Inc. VAT
£119.60 |
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Rioja | 2 | 94 (VN) |
Inc. VAT
£2,755.49 |
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Vinous (94)(aged for nine-and-a-half years in American oak barrels and then held in bottle for at least nine years before release) Limpid, brass-tinged yellow-gold. Highly pungent, heady aromas of orange pith, dried peach, iodine, jasmine, honey and toasted brioche pick up a smoky mineral nuance as the wine opens up. Deeply concentrated and expansive in the mouth, offering palate-coating marmalade, pit fruit and sweet butter flavors that show a refreshingly bitter edge and an echo of minerality. Sappy and surprisingly vibrant for its heft, delivering powerful mineral thrust and persistent floral and smoky mineral notes that cling to the strikingly long finish. |
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Rioja | 2 | 100 (TA) |
Inc. VAT
£2,317.24 |
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Tim Atkin MW (100)It may seem surprising to some that my first ever 100-point Rioja should be a white wine, but not if they've had the chance to taste this stunning, world-class cuvée. This is the first Gran Reserva release since 1996 and is truly historic, illustrating the brilliance of the vintage. Made from Viura and 10% Malvasía, it's a steal at €90, with aromas of mint, saffron and toast, masses of umami and extract and remarkable concentration for a wine with 12.5% alcohol. |
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Rioja | 1 | 100 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£2,190.74 |
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Wine Advocate (100)I was very much looking forward to the 2004 Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva, the next vintage of this wine after the spectacular 2001. 2004 was a perfect climate year. This is a developed white that was matured in well-seasoned, neutral American oak barrels for 10 years in their old caves, where the wine gets pungent aromas of mushrooms, pollen, beeswax, white pepper, kerosene, cereals and something herbal (celery and even asparagus) that reminded me of the 1964. The palate is velvety and dry and super tasty, with a salty twist in the finish. It's still a baby even after years in bottle. This should age superbly in bottle. I think this is slightly better than the 2001, one of the freshest and most elegant vintages for this bottling. Bravo! 10,000 bottles were filled in November 2018. Before and after aging in barrel, the Gran Reserva wines also spend some time in oak vats. |
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Rioja | 1 | 93 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£853.24 |
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Wine Advocate (93)The 2011 Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva reflects a warm and ripe year, and the wine is more evolved and already hints at some caramel and honey. It has a mellow palate without the vibrancy of the 2010 I tasted next to it. This wine matured in used, ancient American oak barrels for six years. 19,000 bottles were filled in November 2019. |
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Rioja | 1 | 98 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£955.24 |
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Wine Advocate (98)The 2001 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva is the follow-up of the 1995. There is a sense of harmony and elegance, of nuance and subtleness that wasn't quite the same in the Bosconia, as comparing both wines is inevitable. They started picking the red grapes the 15th of October, and the last grapes were picked the 29th of October with good weather. The grapes ripened properly and thoroughly, and the wine has great balance for a long aging in bottle. This is 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in their 153-year-old oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used barrels for 10 years. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.4 grams of acidity (tartaric). The nose shows young (tasting it blind, you'd guess a 10-year old wine, not a 20-year-old wine!). It has a nose of sweet spices, underbrush and cigar ash, somewhat balsamic, bramble fruit with perfect ripeness, integrated and young but starting to show some tertiary complexity. The palate is velvety and medium-bodied, with fine-grained, chalky tannins denoting a limestone soil that brings finesse and texture and a sapid, tasty, almost salty finish. This is going to make a beautiful bottle of old Rioja in 30 years' time! 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled after being fined with egg whites in July 2012. |
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Rioja | 2 | 96 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£258.04 |
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Wine Advocate (96)Following the appreciation of the 2007 vintage from María José López de Heredia, the red 2007 Viña Tondonia Reserva is showing great, revealing unusual finesse and elegance. The nose is a little reticent but nuanced and complex, a little shy rather than explosive. The palate is medium-bodied, and the tannins are very refined. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Viña Tondonia Reserva of recent years. 200,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2015. |
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Rioja | 1 | 97 (TA) |
Inc. VAT
£241.24 |
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Tim Atkin MW (97)Tondonia's reds have been on an upward curve recently and are now at the same level as the bodega's world-class whites. This is a fine, elegant, savoury, low-alcohol blend of Tempranillo with 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Mazuelo and Graciano, combining summer berry fruit, racy acidity, granular tannins and an earthy, balsamic undertone. Good now, but this will develop further in bottle. |
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Rioja | 1 | 94 (TA) |
Inc. VAT
£104.00 |
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Tim Atkin MW (94)Serious and concentrated, at least by the standards of some López de Heredia reds, this reflects the heat of the 2009 vintage. Tempranillo-based with 30% Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, it’s spicy, savoury and high toned with grippy tannins, layers of tobacco and red fruits and classic, supporting acidity. 2021-30 |
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Rioja | 1 | 94 (TA) |
Inc. VAT
£219.64 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (94)Serious and concentrated, at least by the standards of some López de Heredia reds, this reflects the heat of the 2009 vintage. Tempranillo-based with 30% Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, it’s spicy, savoury and high toned with grippy tannins, layers of tobacco and red fruits and classic, supporting acidity. 2021-30 |
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|
|
Rioja | 2 | 96 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£219.64 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)The 2010 Viña Tondonia Reserva has all I expect from a Reserva from Tondonia, complexity, elegance and evolution, a developed nose with notes of forest floor and wild berries, herbs and flowers, a touch of iodine, brick dust and very fine, polished tannins. It has the seriousness and elegance of Tondonia. This is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho (they use the masculine form of the name of the grape) and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in the ancient oak vats from when the winery was created 144 years ago and matured in well-seasoned, American oak barrels for six years. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.6 grams of acidity. 260,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2017. |
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Rioja | 1 | 95 (JS) |
Inc. VAT
£432.07 |
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James Suckling (95)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. |
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|
|
Rioja | 2 | 95 (JS) |
Inc. VAT
£232.84 |
|||||
James Suckling (95)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. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 95 (TA) |
Inc. VAT
£464.47 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Viña Tondonia can seem austere in its (comparative) youth, especially when compared with sweeter Bosconia, but this is a wine that will reward patience. Picked earlier to assuage the effects of a warmer site, this blend of Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo is structured and focused, with redcurrant, forest floor and green herb notes. Give it time. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 95 (TA) |
Inc. VAT
£224.44 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Viña Tondonia can seem austere in its (comparative) youth, especially when compared with sweeter Bosconia, but this is a wine that will reward patience. Picked earlier to assuage the effects of a warmer site, this blend of Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo is structured and focused, with redcurrant, forest floor and green herb notes. Give it time. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 97 (VN) |
Inc. VAT
£236.74 |
|||||
Vinous (97)The 2013 Reserva Viña Tondonia is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 10% Graciano and Mazuelo, grown in the calcareous soils of the Tondonia meander in Rioja Alta. Aged extensively in American oak, it offers restrained black fruit, wild herbs, balsamic hints and sweet spices with gentle cedar and vanilla notes. Medium-bodied with chalky grip and a layered, tertiary finish, this is a benchmark classic—refined, enduring and unmistakably Tondonia. |
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| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Rioja | 1 | - |
In Bond
£238.00 |
|||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | - |
In Bond
£97.00 |
|||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 94 (VN) |
In Bond
£2,277.00 |
|||||
Vinous (94)(aged for nine-and-a-half years in American oak barrels and then held in bottle for at least nine years before release) Limpid, brass-tinged yellow-gold. Highly pungent, heady aromas of orange pith, dried peach, iodine, jasmine, honey and toasted brioche pick up a smoky mineral nuance as the wine opens up. Deeply concentrated and expansive in the mouth, offering palate-coating marmalade, pit fruit and sweet butter flavors that show a refreshingly bitter edge and an echo of minerality. Sappy and surprisingly vibrant for its heft, delivering powerful mineral thrust and persistent floral and smoky mineral notes that cling to the strikingly long finish. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 100 (TA) |
In Bond
£1,915.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (100)It may seem surprising to some that my first ever 100-point Rioja should be a white wine, but not if they've had the chance to taste this stunning, world-class cuvée. This is the first Gran Reserva release since 1996 and is truly historic, illustrating the brilliance of the vintage. Made from Viura and 10% Malvasía, it's a steal at €90, with aromas of mint, saffron and toast, masses of umami and extract and remarkable concentration for a wine with 12.5% alcohol. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 100 (WA) |
In Bond
£1,809.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (100)I was very much looking forward to the 2004 Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva, the next vintage of this wine after the spectacular 2001. 2004 was a perfect climate year. This is a developed white that was matured in well-seasoned, neutral American oak barrels for 10 years in their old caves, where the wine gets pungent aromas of mushrooms, pollen, beeswax, white pepper, kerosene, cereals and something herbal (celery and even asparagus) that reminded me of the 1964. The palate is velvety and dry and super tasty, with a salty twist in the finish. It's still a baby even after years in bottle. This should age superbly in bottle. I think this is slightly better than the 2001, one of the freshest and most elegant vintages for this bottling. Bravo! 10,000 bottles were filled in November 2018. Before and after aging in barrel, the Gran Reserva wines also spend some time in oak vats. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 93 (WA) |
In Bond
£695.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (93)The 2011 Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva reflects a warm and ripe year, and the wine is more evolved and already hints at some caramel and honey. It has a mellow palate without the vibrancy of the 2010 I tasted next to it. This wine matured in used, ancient American oak barrels for six years. 19,000 bottles were filled in November 2019. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 98 (WA) |
In Bond
£780.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (98)The 2001 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva is the follow-up of the 1995. There is a sense of harmony and elegance, of nuance and subtleness that wasn't quite the same in the Bosconia, as comparing both wines is inevitable. They started picking the red grapes the 15th of October, and the last grapes were picked the 29th of October with good weather. The grapes ripened properly and thoroughly, and the wine has great balance for a long aging in bottle. This is 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in their 153-year-old oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used barrels for 10 years. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.4 grams of acidity (tartaric). The nose shows young (tasting it blind, you'd guess a 10-year old wine, not a 20-year-old wine!). It has a nose of sweet spices, underbrush and cigar ash, somewhat balsamic, bramble fruit with perfect ripeness, integrated and young but starting to show some tertiary complexity. The palate is velvety and medium-bodied, with fine-grained, chalky tannins denoting a limestone soil that brings finesse and texture and a sapid, tasty, almost salty finish. This is going to make a beautiful bottle of old Rioja in 30 years' time! 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled after being fined with egg whites in July 2012. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 96 (WA) |
In Bond
£199.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)Following the appreciation of the 2007 vintage from María José López de Heredia, the red 2007 Viña Tondonia Reserva is showing great, revealing unusual finesse and elegance. The nose is a little reticent but nuanced and complex, a little shy rather than explosive. The palate is medium-bodied, and the tannins are very refined. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Viña Tondonia Reserva of recent years. 200,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2015. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 97 (TA) |
In Bond
£185.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (97)Tondonia's reds have been on an upward curve recently and are now at the same level as the bodega's world-class whites. This is a fine, elegant, savoury, low-alcohol blend of Tempranillo with 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Mazuelo and Graciano, combining summer berry fruit, racy acidity, granular tannins and an earthy, balsamic undertone. Good now, but this will develop further in bottle. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 94 (TA) |
In Bond
£84.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (94)Serious and concentrated, at least by the standards of some López de Heredia reds, this reflects the heat of the 2009 vintage. Tempranillo-based with 30% Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, it’s spicy, savoury and high toned with grippy tannins, layers of tobacco and red fruits and classic, supporting acidity. 2021-30 |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 94 (TA) |
In Bond
£167.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (94)Serious and concentrated, at least by the standards of some López de Heredia reds, this reflects the heat of the 2009 vintage. Tempranillo-based with 30% Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, it’s spicy, savoury and high toned with grippy tannins, layers of tobacco and red fruits and classic, supporting acidity. 2021-30 |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 96 (WA) |
In Bond
£167.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)The 2010 Viña Tondonia Reserva has all I expect from a Reserva from Tondonia, complexity, elegance and evolution, a developed nose with notes of forest floor and wild berries, herbs and flowers, a touch of iodine, brick dust and very fine, polished tannins. It has the seriousness and elegance of Tondonia. This is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho (they use the masculine form of the name of the grape) and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in the ancient oak vats from when the winery was created 144 years ago and matured in well-seasoned, American oak barrels for six years. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.6 grams of acidity. 260,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2017. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 95 (JS) |
In Bond
£328.00 |
|||||
James Suckling (95)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. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 95 (JS) |
In Bond
£178.00 |
|||||
James Suckling (95)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. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 2 | 95 (TA) |
In Bond
£355.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Viña Tondonia can seem austere in its (comparative) youth, especially when compared with sweeter Bosconia, but this is a wine that will reward patience. Picked earlier to assuage the effects of a warmer site, this blend of Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo is structured and focused, with redcurrant, forest floor and green herb notes. Give it time. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 95 (TA) |
In Bond
£171.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Viña Tondonia can seem austere in its (comparative) youth, especially when compared with sweeter Bosconia, but this is a wine that will reward patience. Picked earlier to assuage the effects of a warmer site, this blend of Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo is structured and focused, with redcurrant, forest floor and green herb notes. Give it time. |
|||||||||
|
|
Rioja | 1 | 97 (VN) |
In Bond
£180.00 |
|||||
Vinous (97)The 2013 Reserva Viña Tondonia is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 10% Graciano and Mazuelo, grown in the calcareous soils of the Tondonia meander in Rioja Alta. Aged extensively in American oak, it offers restrained black fruit, wild herbs, balsamic hints and sweet spices with gentle cedar and vanilla notes. Medium-bodied with chalky grip and a layered, tertiary finish, this is a benchmark classic—refined, enduring and unmistakably Tondonia. |
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