Ben says
★★ Great Wine “Classic Rioja wrapped in wire mesh. Garnet-coloured and immediately aromatic with dried strawberries, black cherry, pepper and toast. Lots of berry fruit over softened tannins finishing in fresh sour cherry and smoked wood notes. A warming, characterful wine that makes me think of a well stocked old library. You could spend hours with it.”
KEY POINTS
75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 5% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo with 13.0% abv. 72 months’ maturation in old oak.
Grown in: Rioja, SPAIN.
Food Pairing
Enjoy this with sausages or smoked and roasted ham.
Disclosure & Price
Tasted at the Beckford Bottle Shop annual tasting.
£39.50 Beckford Bottle Shop, Bath.
Reviewed and tasted: 5 November 2022
About the Producer
This winery is iconic of Rioja. It was one of the first to be established in the La Rioja region by D. Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta at the end of the 19th Century. Four generations have continued to nurture and grow the winery’s reputation. Today their vineyards cover 170 hectares, including the 100 hectare Viña Tondonia vineyard on the right bank of the River Ebro, one of Rioja’s most famous plots. This vineyard has alluvial soil over limestone. Fermentation is generally in large oak vats with maturation in Bordeaux-type barrels.
