Lopez de Heredia 'Vina Tondonia' Rioja Reserva 2011 (750ml)
Product price
Description
López de Heredia's Viña Tondonia Reserva 2011 is a traditional Rioja Alta blend from one of Spain's most historically minded producers. Tempranillo forms the backbone, joined by Garnacha, Graciano, and Mazuelo. The wine spent years in barrel before bottling in 2019, a pace that honors the old Rioja way of doing things.
This is savory wine, built on iron, warm earth, and tobacco leaf rather than fruit-forward sweetness. Black plum, clove, and orange zest emerge from a mineral core of petrol and salt. The structure is firm and serious, with tannins that grip without overstepping, framing the fruit with definition and grip. There's a juicy, zesty quality to the texture that keeps things lithe despite the wine's evident power and concentration. The palate opens generously with air, showing red licorice, dried cherry, and cranberry alongside herbs and spices on a long, mineral finish. This is a wine with enough backbone to cellar further if you prefer patience, though it's drinking with lovely clarity now.
Product Details
| Category | Wine |
| Color | Red |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Rioja |
| Subregion | Rioja Alta |
| Varietal | Rioja Red Blend |
| Producer | Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia |
| Vintage | 2011 |
| Size | 750 ML |
| Subtype | Still |
Expert Reviews
A traditional beauty that effuses iron, warm earth and savory tobacco leaves, together with plums, spices and orange zest. This is juicy and still tight, with firm but savory tannins. Medium-weight and quite zesty in texture, as is the case with the other López de Heredia reds tasted this session.
It has a youthful nose, probably still too young to broach, with black plum, clove, hints of star anis and smoke. Lovely definition, though not as powerful as other vintages tasted. The palate is quite firm and structured with grippy tannins that frame the dusky black fruit with veins of blue fruit towards the finish. There is a seriousness about this Tondonia that I appreciate, though frankly, I would cellar for another decade. (NM)
The 2011 Viña Tondonia Reserva is darker and shows riper fruit, a rounder palate and some dusty tannins. A year of ripeness, concentration and tannin, the wine is powerful with the finesse of Tondonia. Tasting this next to the textbook 2010 Tondonia revealed how this has more muscle and a wider back and the 2010 epitomizes the finesse and elegance. 270,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019.