Lopez de Heredia - Rioja Viņa Tondonia Gran Reserva 1981

Lopez de Heredia, one of the most venerable producers in Spain, produces traditional, age-worthy Rioja. Their wines are legendary and still made the way they were when the winery was founded over 130 years ago. Following a tradition that has been passed down through generations, their wines are released at least 5-10 years after harvest, which provides added complexity and elegance to their Crianzas and Gran Reservas. 

A rarity in Rioja, Lopez de Heredia uses only estate bottled fruit from their prized vineyards: Tondonia, Cubillo, Bosconia, and Zaconia; with the idea that the only way to get the best fruit is to care for the vines themselves. 

"The 1981 Viña Bosconia Gran Reserva is a stunningly beautiful example of this great Rioja vintage. The gorgeous aromatic constellation delivers scents of raspberries, cherries, very salty minerality, orange zest, cigar wrapper, a touch of celery seed and a pungent topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very refined in profile, with a lovely core of red fruit, superb soil signature, melted tannins and a very long, vibrant and complex finish. This is cut in the same style as the 1991 Viña Bosconia, but with even better depth in the mid-palate and a longer, more complete finish. A stunning wine with decades of life still ahead of it!”-John Gilman