Vina Tondonia Reserva

In the glass

Aroma: dried cherry, balsamic, tobacco, autumn leaf, orange peel

Palate: sour cherry, leather, cured-meat savour, walnut

The reference traditional Rioja Reserva: pale brick colour, oxidative dried-fruit and balsamic aromatics over a fine-boned, high-acid frame that drinks like old Burgundy.

What it pairs with

• Cordero asado al sarmiento
  The wine's silky old-oak savour wraps around vine-roasted lamb without overwhelming it.
• Roast partridge
  Game and the Reserva's autumn-leaf and dried-cherry notes are a classic register match.
• Jamon iberico de bellota
  Acorn-fed ham's nutty fat lifts the wine's walnut and cured-meat savour.
• Idiazabal smoked sheep cheese Find idiazabal smoked sheep cheese on TableJourney →
  Basque smoked cheese mirrors the wine's mellow oxidative edge.

History

Vina Tondonia is the 100-hectare estate vineyard Rafael Lopez de Heredia planted from 1913 above the Ebro at Haro. The Reserva is aged for years in the bodega's own American-oak barrels and released only when the family judges it ready, often a decade or more after the harvest.

1. 1913 — Vina Tondonia vineyard fully planted above the Ebro
2. 1925 — Estate bottling of Tondonia under the family label established
3. 2020 — Tim Atkin and Decanter repeatedly cite Tondonia as the benchmark traditional Rioja

Facts

Producer

R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia

Grapes

Tempranillo (75%), Garnacha (15%), Graciano (5%), Mazuelo (5%)

Classification

DOCa Rioja

Oak

Around 6 years in American oak barrels, racked by gravity twice a year, then long bottle ageing

ABV

12.5%

Price

EUR 35 to 60 at retail

Drinking window

5 to 30 from vintage

First vintage

1913

Scores

• Tim Atkin 95 (2010 vintage, reviewed 2021)
• Decanter 96 (2010 vintage, reviewed 2021)

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