2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia

Community Tasting Notes (15) Avg Score: 88.9 points

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  10/22/2023 - Jack Cranley Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Really super floral at first like, dried flower arrangements. But then it's really dusty too so it's like an old flower arrangement dried and hung on the wall and left there to be a decoration for 20 years and it's covered in dust and cobwebs.
  
  Or maybe It's an old wooden chest in a forgotten attic that hasn't been opened in way too long and the stale but fragrant air comes wafting out.
  
  Definitely a fun and intriguing nose.
  
  The drink is - well, an acquired taste. Very rustic, very savory. You can tell that the tannins on this wine were really tight and almost abrasive once upon a time but here we are 22 years later and yes, they've resolved themselves to some extent but it's still challenges the palate, because it's gritty and maybe even a little bitter.
  
  None of this of course is bad or flawed or wrong in any way It's just sort of like an old man with a tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows who has chainsmoked Lucky Strikes his whole life and drinks too much whiskey.
  
  The label and the wine are so perfectly congruous you have to respect it. You get exactly what you'd expect from a wine that looks like this.
  
  Here's the clincher on this wine. I can't think of one culinary dish that this wine couldn't stand up against. It is so assertive, aggressive, and stands for what it is so strongly, it would hold up to any meat, any stew, any combination of flavors, herbs or spices. Get it with some venison stew or something of the like, and you'll be a happy camper.

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  4/29/2020 - rayq wrote: 91 Points

  This bottle similar to the tasting note back in 2015, much better than the bottle from 2019. Polished wood nose, old fruit. Red fruited on the palate with tertiary characteristics, touch of tart fruit. No great length and still doesn't feel like the finished article. A good bottle but not hitting the hights of this wonderful Bodega. More time I reckon.

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  5/25/2019 - wineismylife wrote: 91 Points

  WIML91
  
  Tasted non blind. Tasted from magnum.
  
  Garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of leather, black berries and black pepper. Flavors of black raspberries and black berries. Medium acidity, resolved tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold.

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  10/5/2018 - drwine2001 wrote:

  Mostly Older Rioja Dinner (San Francisco): Light ruby. Lean black fruit and quite acidic at first. Gradually, it kept unfolding, sweetening, and developing greater texture and feel. My conclusion is that it still has a long way to go and should turn out to be a classic vintage and excellent.

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  2/16/2018 - cc.smith44@gmail.com wrote:

  A big red

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View all 15 Community Tasting Notes

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