R. Lopez de Heredia, Tondonia Blanco Reserva, Rioja

From my late father’s cellar, this bottle showed well, with a notable amount of red fruit, as well as the expected earthy, leathery, and spicy accents. The savory elements were stronger on the palate, relegating the fruit to a minor supporting rule. Over 25 years past the vintage this is mature, and in a good place for drinking now and soon.

1999 vintage

On first opening and tasting, this showed a touch reticent, the classic notes to expect (beeswax, toasted nuts etc) but not hugely concentrated. Yet on the palate it showed it's pedigree with a hugely concentrated long savoury finish which balanced perfectly with the bright high acidity. Hugely enjoyable and an experience. Unsure whether to hold my last bottle for longer or be less precious about it...

2008 vintage

Dinner at Bing's : To be honest I didn't expect anyone to bring a Tondonia white at this dinner so I was stumped by this but on reveal it made complete sense. Such a unique white with oxidative, sherry-like notes and a viscous, waxy texture without lacking freshness. Very happy to have tasted this again as this wine was transcendental when I tasted this in 2018 without much wine knowledge.

2004 vintage

Golden color. Aromas of citrus, vanilla and something Sherry like. Powerful and concentrated, with a soft mouth feeling and pronounced acidity.

2008 vintage

viscous, acidic, with an additional throat biting va component. more of an oddity than a properly enjoyable gesamptkunstwerk

2008 vintage

The wine which completely surprised. So complex and rich on the palate. Stony, sandy, very mineral, yellow fruits and honey. Long finish. Decant for few hours and go slowly to get maximum pleasure.

2004 vintage

not as rich as the GR I had at home a few weeks prior; but same general qualities and notes. Oxidative. Gave way after a few minutes in glass and warming up. Wax. Honey. Spice. As it warmed up, lots of honey. Concentrated. Long finish. Almost syrupy. After 10-15 min warming to (warm) room temp - some notes of licorice?

2004 vintage

Terreux et assez rudtique. Feuilles mortes, tabac et un peu de prunes. Finale courte.

1999 vintage

Muy agradable.

1999 vintage

Asperg Wine Syndrome Tasting Group: 4 Guys and lots of interesting wine (@home) : Glass: Zalto Bordeaux Tasted fully blind. Clear, deep golden color. Clean, pronounced and fully developed nose. Lots of sea salt and fine, oxidative notes. Bone dry, high, ripe and racy acidity. 12,5% abv. Beautiful structure and texture. Fine roasted nuts, salt. Gets more and more elegant with time and air and develops a nice presence and tension. Long, complex finish. Beautiful wine. 93+

2004 vintage

4.5 years after the prior: Deep and brightly golden in color. As usual, this showed a cornucopia of lovely waxy savory marzipan. What a fabulous creature. Superb over the course of a week, gassed (Coravin Pivot) in between.

2007 vintage

Fully oxidized.

2004 vintage

I really enjoyed this. I normally don’t care at all for wines with oxidation but this sure shined with it. Such a sipper!

2008 vintage

So four years since my last bottle, and oxidation has fully kicked in. I understand its normal for this wine. Yes, it did taste like a dry sherry, but was pretty funky, and maybe even corked. I preferred my bottle 4 years ago. I have one left, and will let that one ride. Disappointing.

2004 vintage

Spanish Wines for April Fools at the Lido (Clifton Lido) : Placeholder

1999 vintage

Bristol Lido Offline #2 - Ken's Wines of Spain Dinner (Bristol Lido, Oakfield Place, Clifton) : Opened and poured. Lots going on on the nose here; Lucozade, spearmint, week old grass cuttings left on the lawn, some honey and touch of nougat. At the end of the evening there is a touch of white currant. Palate is spicy with classic old white Tondo oxidative character; some spice, a touch of linseed oil, some sesame cracker. Lifted by our lovely scallops …

1999 vintage

Bristol Lido Offline #2 - Ken's Wines of Spain Dinner (Bristol Lido, Oakfield Place, Clifton) : Double decanted a few hours before the dinner. Desiccated Seville orange and some apricot flesh on the nose. Rich and again very food friendly. A couple of ppm of dill / vinegar from the pickle jar. Palate similar to the 1999 is dry and oxidative with that saline character with linseed oil. Love the style.

2004 vintage

Super, unique. Perhaps better on Day 2 when it seemed fresher and more focused, but great even on PnP. A lovely herbal infusion quality to it.

2004 vintage

4.75 years after the prior: Deep golden. Suggestions of aged almonds, smooth savory beeswax, all supported by marvelous acid backbone. We get the comparison to Jura — and yet this is a singular and distinctive fellow. Fabulous over the course of a week, gassed in between (and yet that probably wasn’t necessary, given this lovely creature’s inherent oxidative character).

2004 vintage

Viura (90%), Malvasía (10%). Aged 6 years in American oak barrels, being racked twice a year and fined with fresh egg whites. 12.5% vol. On first day we let it breath for 30 minutes in the glass but it was still very shy and required more time to open, then it showed lanolin, lemon and a suggestion of mushrooms, there is concentrated material but it is not at all heavy, somehow everything is in balance but also a bit lost. …

2008 vintage

Classic aromas - for this wine - of coconut, lemon oil, and brine. The palate shows a slightly oily texture but not as full a body as some other vintages. The acidity is bright and gives this a refreshing, light presence in the mouth. A long, resonant finish adds toasted almond to the flavor profile. This was wonderful and is drinking in a good place now.

2008 vintage

Better bottle than the one last year, this too was purchased on release and stored. It was open, nutty, waxy, with a little more fruit than the previous bottle. Smells like sherry and tastes like a Jura savagnin

2004 vintage

Nutty aromas with citrus, vanilla and some sherry like aromas. Concentrated with evident acidity. Made in an old fashioned style and marked by the american oak barrels.

2004 vintage

A blend of Viura (90%) and Malvasía Riojana (10%) from Viña Tondonia vineyard harvested in mid-October. After the spontaneous fermentation, the wine is aged for 6 years in predominantly old American oak barrels and bottled unfiltered in 2011. Labeled "Reserva", although the wine is effectively a Gran Reserva. 12,5% alcohol, 6,5 g/l acidity. Total production 35,000 bottles. Tasted blind. Deep golden-yellow color. The nose feels complex, somewhat evolved and moderately sweet-toned with layered aromas of caramel and oxidative nutty tones, …

2004 vintage

Initial note on opening: multifaceted nose of nuts, flor, mushrooms, dried fruits and dried coconut. Supple and light to medium-bodied, a medium-intensity yet soft acid spine on which hangs the lovely tertiary characters as described on the nose. Balanced, moreish, and complex. Night 2, from a bottle with around 1/3 left: dried fruits and mushrooms; fleshes out on the midpalate, baritone in feel, earth and mushrooms, the insistent yet soft acid spine drawing throughout. Just so much interest on these …

2004 vintage

This opened up the night nicely. Mid-neck fill. Cork looked brand new and was easily extracted. This wine holds its residual sugars in check with sherry-like notes. Peach, kimquat, and old books/library as someone mentions on another tasting note on CT. Complex and evolved over the hour and a half it was open.drank at ~55-60F. Paired excellently with hard cheese drizzled with 100 year old Balsamic. Unreal that I paid under 40 dollars for this less than 10 years ago.

2004 vintage

Richard’s Hawksmoor Dinner (Hawksmoor, Guildhall, London) : Aromatic, fumey nose, nutty, petroleum, oranges. Mature. Medium bodied, nutty, spicy, slightly burnished, some nice breadth, fresh acids, good length finish. This bottle fully mature.

1999 vintage

Richard's BWC and Friends Monday Night Supper Club (Hawksmoor Guildhall, London, UK) : Classical Tondo Blanco '99. In a good place. Some tangerine and melted demerara on the nose with some hints of grated marzipan. Palate is savoury and mature with just the right amount of evolution, some hints of linseed oil and the faintest suggestion of Malibu from the oak.

1999 vintage

Personally, I have found considerable variation in this vintage. Younger vintages of this amazing wine have been more consistent. I have had considerable pleasure recently from '05s and '09s so it was with a little trepidation that I popped the cork on this bottle. I got lucky. Very lucky. First observation was that this bottle was very dark, in fact the darkest I've over seen. I was concerned it was well past its peak. First impressions were of a slightly …

1999 vintage

Maybe a bad bottle but this is way too rough

2007 vintage

LdH whites and roses dinner : Fresh but reticent, thought the ‘08 Gravonia outclassed this when I went back to do a side-by-side. Maybe Tondonias need age to develop that extra gear?

2008 vintage

Lopez de Heredia - Rosados y Blancos (Imperial Grand Restaurant) : Mix of tropical and stone fruits, slight touch of sherry and cream. Good acidity pulled through the rich body. Less impressive than the previous bottle I had, felt it needed time to warm up and evolve in the glass.

2008 vintage

Tasted this at the Rioja - Spain's Overlooked Classic Masterclass by Tan Ying Hsien at Prowine Singapore 2024. Deep gold in colour. Oily nose with fleeting aroma, revealing its age. Weak mid-palate with high levels of acidity. Wine was made using new oak.

2004 vintage

Interesting wine, oxidative, nutty, sherry, honey. High acidity. Decanted for several hours before dinner but not much happened. Paired with both seafood (starter) and sausages/meat (main) and would say it preformed better with the latter.

2007 vintage

Ett häftigt vin! Färgen är bärnsten. Förutom tydliga ekaromer och en allmänt tertiär känsla (kan inte identifiera aromerna - kanske en mix av kola och ostronskal?), får det efter bara några minuter i glaset stigande inslag av oxidation. Trots att det sannolikt passerat peak och är lite kort i rocken är det fortfarande mycket bra.

2007 vintage

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2008 vintage

Deep golden colour. On the nose complex; almondpastries, ripe yellow fruits, full and warm. On the palate full mouthfeel, deep and surprising. Rounded, mature acidity. Soft, yet complex and full of flavour. Not like anything else, yet so easily drunk. A bottle of happiness!

2008 vintage

Good Spanish i feel like matador ariba ariba

2008 vintage

Drinking really well, rich, oily, oxydation adds an extra dimension to this wine. Long finish

2007 vintage

Lorne Rangers 2024 (Lorne) : An incredibly singular wine, and it's fun to drink something from the hardly-seen 1992 vintage. Lots of impact (although the 2001 had even more): a characterful, saline - almost fishy - nose, and a really enduring finish with more than a touch of rancio. Then, with air and the chance to explore further, other delightful scents and flavours showed themselves - a touch of cereal and smoke on the nose, and lemon confit, pine resin, …

1992 vintage

Lorne Rangers 2024 - Rioja (Lorne Restaurant, London) : A fabulous pair of Tondo Blanco Reservas (served with the 2001) this is as fresh as a daisy. Caramelised banana and Seville orange skins on pouring. This has lovely tension but is calmer somehow than the 2001. Crisp, refreshing palate with a real tartness to it with a lime cordial character with air. With time in the glass there is a Grape Nut, malty cereal character on the nose and some …

1992 vintage

Off the beaten track : Very dark color compared to the Musar 2004 tasted next to it. Feels older. But the nose is stunning of course, oranges, kumquats, roasted nuts and the typical LdH „old bookshelf“ aroma. The palate is intense, fruity, has lovely caramelized an nutty flavors. And then the crazy acidity grabs you on the long finish. Gets better and better the longer it sits in the glass. Fantastic. 18.5+/20

2004 vintage

Always very interesting to taste these wines as it forces you to reset your ideas about white wines. Fairly shy and dusty and this point showing oak, an aged character and a little candied fruit. Not really enough aromatic intensity or diversity for a wine coming from this producer. some might appreciate this more, but it comes across as a relic.

2004 vintage

Kändes som den var lite för gammal. Men kul att prova. Den låg på närmare 3500kr när vi kollade

1999 vintage

Powerful aromas of mandarin orange and that classic sherried note. Tangy, pithy character on the palate with a nutty flavour coming through o the long finish. A touch of grip and a lovely mouthfeel.

1992 vintage

Expressive, slightly oxidative style in a lean, vertical structure. Notes of pear, vanilla, nuts and salt. There’s so much going on here. Singular wine. Wednesday night chez CP.

2008 vintage

Yellowish gold colour. Very similar to the last bottle with that lovely citrus peel and sherries character. Starts fresh but gains power through the palate. Has that nice touch of grip that you always get in these. Nice nutty almond character on the long finish too.

1992 vintage

This bottle seemed a bit off or it might need LOADS of more time in the decanter than the hour we gave it. Much lighter and "older" than expected with the feeling of slightly dried out fruit/midline and heavy on the oxidized notes. Not defect or flawed, just... off character...

2007 vintage

NOTK Bring Your Own Bottle dinner (NOTK, Rotterdam) : Deep straw yellow with medium+ intensity. Oxidative, mushroom, but also plenty of fruit left, a bitter note, white chocolate. Medium+ acidity, long finish. 93-94

2004 vintage

A lot of the fruit has faded from this bottle since I had it last. It is totally serious, with sherry, sliced mushroom, waxy hazelnut, not a ton of citrus in this case. It certainly remains in balance, deeply interesting and complex but lacking in the fruit department.

2004 vintage

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R. Lopez de Heredia, Tondonia Blanco Reserva, Rioja

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