Don Rafael López de Heredia (photo from Lopez de Heredia website)

A few Tondonias - Lopez de Heredia

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Since its founding in 1877, Bodega R. Lopez de Heredia has produced the benchmark wines of the Rioja region. For the past 142 years, the estate's wines have represented Rioja's unique style and terroir to the world. Unlike the vast majority of estates and cooperatives in the region, the estate has remained continuously family-owned, and only ever produced wines from grapes within the Rioja DOC. These wines are well suited to cellaring, but approachable and exciting to drink now. 

The wines on offer today are are all from the famous Viña Tondonia site, a more than 100 hectare assemblage of vineyards acquired by the estate in 1913. The Tondonia vineyards are situated on a large meander of the river Ebro for which it is named (from the Latin rotundus "round"). This is the largest vineyard owned and worked by the Lopez estate, and the grapes are used in the production of both white and red Reserva wines, and in exceptional years a small number of Gran Reserva bottles.

 

Today we are excited to offer a limited selection of special Reserva and Gran Reserva wines from this celebrated estate. Allocations were slim this year, and we hope to receive some Cubillo, Bosconia, and the elusive whites! Feel free to email us at office@chambersstwines.com if you're after other Lopez bottles, and we'll keep you informed.

López de Heredia 2001 Rioja Tondonia Reserva 1.5 L

75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, and 10% Mazuelo, aged 6 years in barrel and 4 years in bottle. Full bodied and structured with dark tobacco, plump fruit, and woodsy earth. Rather generous and amazing. cb

  • red
  • 2 in stock
  • $239.99

López de Heredia 2004 Rioja Tondonia Reserva

This is serious Rioja: no new oak, extended pre-release bottle aging, and exquisite vineyard sites (for the Tondonia, vines dig deep through fine-grained alluvial soils overlooking the Ebro River that were first planted almost 140 years ago).  Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta founded Lopez de Heredia in 1877, and the wines continue to serve as a benchmark for the region (the familyy business is now led mainly by his grandson Pedro, and great-granddaughter Maria Jose). The bodega comprises four distinct vineyard areas and extends to a total of 170 hectares, with Tondonia being the largest and most famous of the holdings. Jancis Robinson considers 2004  "a very good year, with wines that should last well," and the Tondonia Reserva is certainly that: powerful, lean, and layered  with gorgeous, generous fruit and all the cigar box, cedar, and leather notes a lover of classic Rioja could wish for.

  • red
  • 10 in stock
  • $99.99

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López de Heredia 2001 Rioja Tondonia Reserva

75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, and 10% Graciano and Mazuelo, aged 6 years in barrel and 4 years in bottle. Rich aromas of wild cherry, rose oil, black raspberries, and toasty baking spice, with a full, silky, structured palate of cherry skins, tart cranberry, plump ripe strawberries, wild nettles, sweet tobacco, black tea, orange rind, and warm, woodsy earth. Generous and satisfying in its present youthful stage and an exciting candidate for long-term cellaring. AR

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $89.99

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $99.99

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $64.99

  • Out of Stock
  • red
  • 0 in stock
  • $349.99