Community Tasting Notes 19

• Paul S wrote: 93 points

  December 26, 2019 - 1980 Wine Lunch (Summer Pavilion, Ritz Carlton, Singapore): Absolutely lovely. It stood out from amongst a lovely field of Burgundies, but not quite as much as one would expect. The nose was lovely, with a blush of roses, sweet dried cherries and strawberries, earth, bramble and smoky spice. There was a sweet thickness to those aromas, along with a lick of American oak that set this apart from the Burgs. The palate was lovely too, with a gentle glow of mature sweetness showing in its flavours of dried red cherries and strawberries, haw flakes, earth and spice, all unfolding into a beautifully full, sheet finish. Really nice purity here. There was still a nice peck of structure too, with a kiss of tannins and a lift of juicy acidity, but this was clearly a rounded and mature wine. A lovely drop.

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• tinybubbles wrote: 88 points

  November 11, 2017 - Brownish complexion to both the nose and palate. Metallic notes on teh nose. Light dry hay and dry green herbs on the palate. This has never been one of my preferred vintages of Tondonia

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• rocknroller wrote: 92 points

  November 6, 2014 - Lopez de Heredia Tasting - 4 decades (Sunfish Cellars, St. Paul, MN): Light medium red color, markedly bricked. PNP, Drank 2oz over 15 minutes. This faded fast, but at its peak it was quite good and complex. Lush earthiness, subtle limburger, cigar tobacco, rose petals, cherry. The palate is red fruit, tart cherry, tart raspberry, good acid. Seems like you better be ready to imbibe on this one to keep it fresh. Fun wine for a group. 92pts at peak.

  Comment

• Wine Mothership wrote: flawed

  June 4, 2014 - Unfair to rate this bottle as it obviously had some heat damage. Despite the battering it took this wine was still surprisingly enjoyable.

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• sequoiagrove Likes this wine: 95 points

  May 31, 2014 - Drank it in 2012. The red tondonia is made in classical methods, with homemade barrels and clarified by egg whites. It is aged 7-8 years in barrels.
  
  As soon I opened it, it had this lovely smell in the air, sweet scent of a well aged wine, where the have transcended into something better, and the vanilla oak mellowed down.The colour was more red then I expected of such an old wine, suggesting it can still age a lot longer. I have recently had Campillo Grand Reserva 1994 that was already getting brownish.Some 8 years ago I had Tondonia 1981 and it was still kinda young (at 22 y old!) which made it kinda powerful and with a bitterness on the finish, but this 1978 (34y old) mellowed down, making the tannins and the fruits more integrated and soft, making the experience silky smooth (even more than a well aged Barolo and Bourgogne), while the flavours filled the entire head with joy.Tasting notes started off as dried raspberries, cedar, and then associations of rum-raisin-vanilla icecream, and then a long finish of toast with vanilla custard, coffee, and cedar.

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Pro Reviews 2

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1978
• Type Red
• Producer R. López de Heredia
• Varietal Tempranillo Blend
• Designation Gran Reserva
• Vineyard Viña Tondonia
• Country Spain
• Region La Rioja
• SubRegion La Rioja Alta
• Appellation Rioja

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 101 (64%)
• Consumed 57 (36%)

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