2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia

Community Tasting Notes (33) Avg Score: 93.3 points

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  2/18/2024 - chmorc Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Opened and drank over 6 hours.
  
  On the nose started off with notes of cedar and vanilla, sour cherries and spice
  
  On the palate: incredible concentration and length with the palate following the nose just as I popped and poured.
  - 2 hours in, blackberries and black tea on the finish.
  - 4 hours in, back to notes of sour cherries, cloves, anise, balsamic vinegar and vanilla. The wine retains fantastic freshness with 23 years of age on it and can go from another 8-10 years.
  
  Wonderful wine and experience!

  3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

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  2/11/2024 - streethawk Likes this wine:

  Absolutely special, almost ethereal expression of Rioja. So finessed, so beautiful. Gentle tannins on the finish. This has a long way to go and should make lovely old(er) bones - history in a bottle. Singular, emotional wine - wow!
  
  I will conclude this note by noting that a Gran Reserva designation from López de Heredía is extraordinarily rare - occurring less than 30 times since 1890 - and is reserved for only the very best expressions of their terroir. You can generally expect a more “traditional” style of Rioja from this bodega where elegance is preferred over the sheer power and massive oak influence seen in some of the more modern styles of Rioja.

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  1/10/2024 - BurgundySimon wrote:

  Something was off about this bottle. No obvious cork taint maybe just still very reductive and closed. No rating.

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  12/31/2023 - OnWisconsin Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Dried cherries, leather, and a touch of funk.
  
  Medium acid with medium minus tannin. Finish is word class with tremendous fruit concentration.
  
  This is classic old Rioja on the nose with tons of freshness on the palate. After 3+ hours of decanting, it’s still a bit wound up, so agree additional cellaring would be beneficial.

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  12/24/2023 - Peter Spijker wrote: flawed

  Too young perhaps? This was restrained, with quite dense dark fruit, earth, oak. Not sure if there was something slightly wrong with the bottle or if this was off, so no rating.

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