2001 López de Heredia "Viña Tondonia" Reserva Rioja

María José López de Heredia and her family are custodians of a remarkable way of living in the wine world, resisting the pressures to do things differently and to release their wines before their time. This remains the most Recent Gran reserva following on the from the 1995. Take time to appreciate its qualities in the glass: the youthful aspect; the medium body; the layers of red fruits and mature tannins. Nothing to suggest this is already 21 years old. It's clear that it has many majestic years ahead. (SE) (12/2022)

I had the chance to taste a bottle of the 2001 Viña Tondonia Reserva 10 years after it was released, and the wine has evolved beautifully and quite slowly—at least that is the case for these bottles that have been kept in the winery for all these years. It's austere and elegant, with balance and concentration, polished tannins and a chalky texture, long tasty and dry. This is lively and should continue developing in bottle for quite some time... (LG) 96+ (7/2022)

Lots of dried fruits from pear and apples to all citrus. Honey undertones too. Full body, tangy fruit and acidity. Hints of limes and vanilla also. A fascinating wine. Drinking heritage. (7/2015)

The 2001 Viña Tondonia Rioja “Reserva” from López de Heredia is a truly beautiful wine in the making. At age eighteen, it is drinking with a great degree of style and polish, but is still in climbing mode and will be even better down the road than it is today! The gorgeous bouquet wafts from the glass in a mix of cherries, raspberries, toasted coconut, cloves, salty soil elements, cigar wrapper, cinnamon and orange zest in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, refined and nicely tangy, with a lovely core of fruit, great soil signature, moderate, buried tannins and stunning length and grip on the vibrant and very complex finish. This is not a powerful wine by any stretch of the imagination, but rather a vibrant, intensely flavored and beautifully transparent wine of breed and stellar complexity. 2001 is a great vintage in Rioja and the Viña Tondonia “Reserva” has fully captured all of the potential of this magical year. It is delicious now and is only going to get better for the next couple of decades. (9/2019)

Elegance and understatement are the classic hallmarks of fine Rioja, sustained in this estate-grown red from an exceptional vintage. The wine’s complexity begins in the light cranberry essence of its aroma, which deepens to cherries and adds zesty notes of orange peel as the flavors build in richness. Sleek and mature, this is the ultimate red for rack of lamb. (12/2012)

(75% tempranillo, 15% garnacha and 5% each of graciano and mazuelo) Bright medium red. Expansive bouquet of musky red and dark berries, medicinal cherry, rose oil and Asian spices. Juicy raspberry and rose pastille flavors are framed by silky tannins and given a boost by zesty minerality. Packs a solid punch but comes off almost weightless. The tannins fade into the sweet fruit on the finish, which is strikingly pure and very persistent. (JR) (9/2010)