Lopez de Heredia is one of Spain's constants, virtually unchanged for 140 years, curating wines made in the ultra-classic style of Rioja. These have been one of the top buys for Old World Red Wine for many years, achieving a level of quality that stuns at this price point. Lopez de Heredia continues to impress, and we have the newest Tondonia today, from 2013 —another sensational effort from this favorite Spanish address, released this year. The Tondonia is always a bar-setting bottle. It capitalizes on the rustic style that becomes a masterpiece after aging in the cellar, typically showing more finesse than the Bosconia. A blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho, with 5% Mazuelo and 5% Graciano. 2013 was a lower-yielding, cooler vintage, which, as Luis notes in his review, took a long time for the fruit to ripen. Still, the result is a beautifully elegant, more classically structured example with impressive complexity, high acidity, and pinpoint precision, playing right into the classic Lopez Heredia. One to enjoy now and easily over the next few decades, few wines come close to the value that this wine holds, and 2013 is a contender for one of the best examples of Vina Tondonia of all time.
Vinous 97 points! "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."
Wine Advocate (Luis Guttierez) 95 points! "The canonical red 2013 Viña Tondonia Reserva has a developed nose of dried roses and tar that transported me to Piamonte but soon took me back to the López de Heredia cellars in Haro with the mixture of mushrooms, truffles, damp earth and decayed leaves, hints of brick dust and spice. 2013 was a rainy year, with 753 liters of it, well above the average of 530 liters in Haro. It was also a cooler year, and the ripeness was slow, so they didn't start picking until the seventh of October, but they had to hurry up because of the risk of botrytis. The crop was not so big, because they suffered from hail in July that affected the Viña Tondonia, coupled with strong winds that broke many branches. The breakdown in 2013 comes to 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. All the wines age in old American oak barrels in their caves, in this case for no less than six years. It comes in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.4 and 6.6 grams of acidity, perhaps a lighter vintage with higher acidity that translates into a lot of energy, a fine-boned palate and very fine tannins with a vibrant finish. 190,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2021. It should be released in the spring of 2025, almost 12 years after the harvest. And look at the price..."
2013 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia
2013 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia
Lopez de Heredia is one of Spain's constants, virtually unchanged for 140 years, curating wines made in the ultra-classic style of Rioja. These have been one of the top buys for Old World Red Wine for many years, achieving a level of quality that stuns at this price point. Lopez de Heredia continues to impress, and we have the newest Tondonia today, from 2013 —another sensational effort from this favorite Spanish address, released this year. The Tondonia is always a bar-setting bottle. It capitalizes on the rustic style that becomes a masterpiece after aging in the cellar, typically showing more finesse than the Bosconia. A blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho, with 5% Mazuelo and 5% Graciano. 2013 was a lower-yielding, cooler vintage, which, as Luis notes in his review, took a long time for the fruit to ripen. Still, the result is a beautifully elegant, more classically structured example with impressive complexity, high acidity, and pinpoint precision, playing right into the classic Lopez Heredia. One to enjoy now and easily over the next few decades, few wines come close to the value that this wine holds, and 2013 is a contender for one of the best examples of Vina Tondonia of all time.
Vinous 97 points! "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."
Wine Advocate (Luis Guttierez) 95 points! "The canonical red 2013 Viña Tondonia Reserva has a developed nose of dried roses and tar that transported me to Piamonte but soon took me back to the López de Heredia cellars in Haro with the mixture of mushrooms, truffles, damp earth and decayed leaves, hints of brick dust and spice. 2013 was a rainy year, with 753 liters of it, well above the average of 530 liters in Haro. It was also a cooler year, and the ripeness was slow, so they didn't start picking until the seventh of October, but they had to hurry up because of the risk of botrytis. The crop was not so big, because they suffered from hail in July that affected the Viña Tondonia, coupled with strong winds that broke many branches. The breakdown in 2013 comes to 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. All the wines age in old American oak barrels in their caves, in this case for no less than six years. It comes in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.4 and 6.6 grams of acidity, perhaps a lighter vintage with higher acidity that translates into a lot of energy, a fine-boned palate and very fine tannins with a vibrant finish. 190,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2021. It should be released in the spring of 2025, almost 12 years after the harvest. And look at the price..."
