In the glass
Aroma: ripe cherry, clove, cocoa, dried fig, cedar
Palate: black cherry, leather, sweet spice, savoury depth
The richer, more Burgundian sibling to Tondonia, from a warmer estate vineyard; rounder fruit and spice but still carrying the house's signature freshness and old-oak savour.
What it pairs with
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Cordero asado al sarmiento
Vine-shoot-roasted suckling lamb is the canonical Rioja match; the wine's resolved tannins frame the sweet fat. -
Chuleton de buey a la brasa
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A thick aged-beef chop over embers meets the wine's savoury oak and grip. -
Jamon iberico
Cured Iberian ham echoes the wine's dried-cherry and leather register. -
Roast wood pigeon
Bosconia's clove and cocoa depth flatters mature game.
History
Vina Bosconia is the warmer, Pinot-noir-like estate vineyard of the house. The Reserva is fuller and rounder than Tondonia but follows the same long American-oak ageing regime.
- 1922 — Vina Bosconia estate established as a separate cuvee
- 2020 — Bosconia recognised as the richer counterpoint to Tondonia
Facts
- Producer
- R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia
- Grapes
- Tempranillo (80%), Garnacha (15%), Graciano (2%), Mazuelo (3%)
- Classification
- DOCa Rioja
- Oak
- Around 5 years in American oak barrels with biannual racking, then bottle ageing
- ABV
- 13.0%
- Price
- EUR 30 to 55 at retail
- Drinking window
- 5 to 25 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1922
Scores
- Tim Atkin 94 (2011 vintage, reviewed 2022)