1987 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia

Community Tasting Notes (56) Avg Score: 91.6 points

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  2/2/2024 - Rieslingfan wrote:

  Thank goodness this was a better bottle than the one I opened three years ago. This bottle came from my late father’s cellar. It was a birthday gift to him nearly 20 years ago, but he never opened it. One the first anniversary of his passing it seemed appropriate to open it. After successfully dealing with the brittle wax on top, the cork came out in one very solid piece. So did an aroma of saddle leather and cherry preserves. A touch thin and jangly on the palate at first, it fleshed out after thirty minutes to be balanced, old wine. I put the bottle aside for ninety minutes to prep dinner (actually pick up takeout), and then settled in for a full glass with my meal. The depth had increased threefold and the fruit freshened. It also developed a dusty, herbal overtone. Medium-bodied, impeccably balanced, and incalculably long, after another hour I was reconsidering having opened it. There still upside here. Ultimately though, it was nice to enjoy the wine over a few hours, remember my dad, and enjoy a nice Friday evening with my biggest supporter, my wife.
  
  Please open your good bottles. Open them with friends. Open them with family. Open them with a burger at In-n-Out Burger with Paul Giamatti. Just open them.

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  11/27/2022 - Topper wrote: 91 Points

  Last one of these and age is starting to catch up to it, leaving it still grand but slightly austere. Def finish these up.

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  10/2/2022 - viniferatu Likes this wine:

  tasted blind, gorgeous spice and dried fruits, very complex on the nose, the palate was a bit lean, but it was still a real pleasure... the table eventually figured it out, though we thought it was younger

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  2/13/2021 - Rieslingfan wrote:

  Unfortunately this has become plain, old, red wine. It’s tasty enough in a generic sense, but mostly old leather, old wood, dried flowers and herbs with no lift, no life. Sad, but it happens.

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  5/20/2020 - Jammy Wine wrote: 88 Points

  The 1987 Tondonia Rioja Gran Réserva is soft and silky, fabulous to drink now. Saturated mixed berries, cedar wood, caramelised meaty core and subtle rose petal. Fully mature with fine tannins and vibrant acidity. Hints of ethereal note and citrus peel. Not a blockbuster Rioja but a traditional, and graceful Rioja. (88/100)

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