R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Rose 2010
Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe 2010 Viña Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva was hitting on all cylinders. It was produced with 60% Garnacho (they use the masculine of the name here), 30% Tempranillo and 10% white Viura from vines averaging 91 years of age. Like all the wines, it fermented with indigenous yeasts (they have never used selected yeasts) in the 142 oak vats they have used since the beginning and then matured in old American oak barrels for four years. There is tons of complexity and nuance here; it's super elegant and layered, and as the wine sat in the glass, it developed more and more complex aromas, a subtle combination of balsam, red acid berries, a hint of medicine, fennel and wet chalk, a diesel-like touch, old wood and mushroom (beetroot?), licorice and yellow flowers, sweet spices... There's a lot more of everything. It's clean and crystalline, fresh and long, with terrific balance and depth. This has to be the finest rosado of recent times...
Special, aged rosé with dried strawberry, leather and Spanish cedar on the nose. It’s full-bodied with beautiful fruit and a vanilla, light toffee and dried-fruit finish. Nutty at the end. Unique wine. Drink now.
Not many wineries outside Champagne are selling a 2010 as their current rosé release, but López de Heredia has always delighted in doing things differently. This blend of Garnacha with 20% Viura and 10% Tempranillo spent four years in wood and is wonderfully savory and developed with nutty undertones and hints of rose petal and strawberry. Intriguingly brilliant. 2020-24
It all started in the middle of the nineteenth century when French negociants visited the Rioja region to find alternative sources of quality grapes to transform into wine, since the phylloxera epidemic had decimated their vineyards. Our founder, Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta, a knowledgeable and enthusiastic student in the art of wine making, followed closely in their footsteps.
Don Rafael fell in love with the region and especially the area around Haro, the mythical capital of the Rioja Alta region. He observed that there was a magical combination of soil and climate that would offer the perfect environment for producing wine that would eventually become world famous. Around 1877 he began the design and construction of the complex that is today known as the López de Heredia bodega (winery), the oldest in Haro and one of the first three houses in the Rioja region.
For over a century our emotions have been rooted in our love and passion for this land and its harvest. We cherish our heritage, and this combination of love and the rigorous quality standards we apply, have become our trademark and remains our maxim for today and the future.
Bodegas López de Heredia stands out as one of the few family-run bodegas regulated by the Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja - DOC (Appellation region).
Highly regarded for distinctive and age-worthy red wines, Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated wine region. Made up of three different sub-regions of varying elevation: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Wines are typically a blend of fruit from all three, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta, at the highest elevation, is considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier Rioja Oriental produce wines with deep color and higher alcohol, which can add great body and richness to a blend.
Fresh and fruity Riojas labeled, Joven, (meaning young) see minimal aging before release, but more serious Rioja wines undergo multiple years in oak. Crianza and Reserva styles are aged for one year in oak, and Gran Reserva at least two, but in practice this maturation period is often quite a bit longer—up to about fifteen years.
Tempranillo provides the backbone of Rioja red wines, adding complex notes of red and black fruit, leather, toast and tobacco, while Garnacha supplies body. In smaller percentages, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) often serve as “seasoning” with additional flavors and aromas. These same varieties are responsible for flavorful dry rosés.
White wines, typically balancing freshness with complexity, are made mostly from crisp, fresh Viura. Some whites are blends of Viura with aromatic Malvasia, and then barrel fermented and aged to make a more ample, richer style of white.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
