Rioja Reserva Vina Tondonia - Tempranillo

As with many wines this time, I had two vintages to taste of the Reserva from the Tondonia vineyard, 2009 and 2008, two very different, almost opposite vintages. The 2009 Viña Tondonia Reserva, a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Mazuelo and Graciano, matured in used American oak barrels for six years. It has some toasted character, with ripe fruit, black rather than red, denoting a warm year but more restrained than the Bosconia Reserva from the same vintage. 2009 is a year of ripeness, concentration and tannin; the wines are powerful, but here you see the finesse of Tondonia in comparison to the more rustic Viña Bosconia. 220,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2017.

The Gran Reserva wines from López de Heredia come back to the market with the heralded 2001 vintage. Otherwise, when I asked them about news, the answer was "We continue making Viña Tondonia as we have always done." Basically, they are against change... From their 170 hectares of vineyards, 124 are currently in production, from which they produce around 400,000 bottles. They are the most traditional among Rioja traditionalists. 93/100  Luis Gutiérrez