López de Heredia 'Reserva' 2001 Viña Tondonia Rioja MAGNUM

1500ml

13% abv

Vibrant red with amber at the rim. Nose is heady, complex, fresh, and layered, with vanilla and dried red berries. The palate is austere and elegant, with concentration, polished tannins, a chalky texture, long and dry throughout. Still evolving slowly after a quarter century.

75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 5% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo. All estate fruit from the Tondonia vineyard, the oldest and most celebrated of the four vineyards the family farms along the Ebro River.

Viña Tondonia is a single 110-hectare parcel on the right bank of the Ebro River in Rioja Alta, just outside Haro, enclosed on three sides by a meander in the river. The microclimate created by the river moderates temperature extremes and contributes to the slow, even ripening that defines the house style. Soils are chalky clay. Average vine age over 45 years. Organic farming, certified.

Harvest began October 15 and concluded October 29, 2001, in good conditions with fully ripe, well-balanced fruit. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in 153-year-old oak vats. Aged 6 years in used American oak barrels, racked twice annually and fined with fresh egg whites. Rested unfiltered in bottle before release. Bottled in 75cl and 37.5cl standard formats; the 1500ml magnum format ages more slowly than the 750ml, extending the development curve. Total aging from harvest to release: approximately 10 years.

The 2001 Tondonia Reserva is considered one of the finest vintages of the modern era for this wine, and for López de Heredia as a whole. Harvest conditions were ideal, with October weather allowing the grapes to ripen thoroughly and evenly. At 24 years from vintage the wine remains in active development, consistently described by those tasting recently as still evolving rather than declining.

R. López de Heredia was founded in 1877 by Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta, who came to Haro during the construction of the railroad and recognized the commercial opportunity of connecting Rioja's wines to European markets. He built his bodega, aging galleries, and vineyards over the following decades, including the Tondonia vineyard in 1913. The estate is now in its fourth and fifth generations, currently led by María José López de Heredia. Everything at the property is done as it was at the outset: indigenous yeast fermentation in ancient wooden vats, extended aging in used American oak, racking by hand, egg white fining, no filtration, and release only after years of bottle rest. The winery does not use any modern oenological additives. The bodega in Haro, with its extraordinary aging galleries, is a working monument to 19th-century winemaking practice.