There 15 products in this category
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
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Marques de Murrieta
Top-end and faultless. Beautifully broad, aristocratic dinner wine. Liquorice, chopped nuts, balsamic, leather. Silky rounded tannins. Tons of awards
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
"The 2001 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva is the follow-up of the 1995. There is a sense of harmony and elegance, of nuance and subtleness that wasn't quite the same in the Bosconia, as comparing both wines is inevitable. They started picking the red grapes the 15th of October, and the last grapes were picked the 29th of October with good weather. The grapes ripened properly and thoroughly, and the wine has great balance for a long aging in bottle. This is 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in their 153-year-old oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used barrels for 10 years. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.4 grams of acidity (tartaric). The nose shows young (tasting it blind, you'd guess a 10-year old wine, not a 20-year-old wine!). It has a nose of sweet spices, underbrush and cigar ash, somewhat balsamic, bramble fruit with perfect ripeness, integrated and young but starting to show some tertiary complexity. The palate is velvety and medium-bodied, with fine-grained, chalky tannins denoting a limestone soil that brings finesse and texture and a sapid, tasty, almost salty finish. This is going to make a beautiful bottle of old Rioja in 30 years' time! 25,000 bottles produced. " It was bottled after being fined with egg whites in July 2012. Drink 2021-2040. 98/100. Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate – Oct. 2020
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Bodegas R. Lopez de Heredia
2012 Vintage Report 2012 was rated as a ‘very good’ vintage in Rioja. The year was defined by the lack of rain which was 25% lower than normal for the region with over a third of the rainfall falling after the harvest. High spring and summer temperatures resulted in picking starting early. The rain finally began to fall on 11th October, extending the harvest by an extra week but all grapes were in by 18th October, which is still early for Haro. Given the dry conditions, yields were down as grapes were small. However, they were also very healthy and López de Heredia are very happy with the quality of the vintage, saying that the wines, ‘continue to develop favourably in terms of freshness and fineness’ and that they have a long ageing potential. The 2012 is a blend of 70% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacho with the remaining 10% a mix of Graciano and Mazuelo. The wine was aged in barrel for 6 years, being racked twice per year and fined with fresh egg whites. Overall, the wine has spent 10 years maturing in the perfect, cool conditions of López de Heredia’s incredible underground cellars and was bottled in January 2022. Tasting Notes The nose of the 2012 Tondonia Tinto Reserva is gloriously open, perfumed and fine. Gentle aromas of jamón and cured leather mingle with subtle notes of raspberry tea and a touch of musky, cedar spice. A sweet red cherry compote top note comes through but, above all, this is remarkably scented, floral and mineral-pure Tondonia. The palate is incredibly fresh with well-defined red fruit and a vibrating hint of orange zest at the back. This is a more accessible and less dense style than the previous two vintages but that is more than compensated for by its superb poise and sense of energy. Reminiscent of the lovely 2009 in its charm, the wine dances on the palate towards the focused, pure finish. Delicious. Drink 2024 (decanted) to 2042. Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer BBR “2012 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Tinto Reserva (13%)
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R. López de Heredia
López de Heredia - Viña Tondonia is particularly well-known and admired for its white wines, and Viña Gravonia is a very good option for getting to know its good work, a first step, and obviously much more affordable and accessible. Just its appearance, its colour, demonstrates clearly this winery’s exceptional work as true masters in the art of ageing wine: notice how little this white has been evolving; aged for four years in American oak barrels, with a long maturation in bottle until now, and yet it appears a lovely gold colour without evolution. Viña Gravonia is the house's most modest wine but its complexity is quite remarkable. The first impression on the nose is one of maturity and moisture: wet stones, sea breezes, gentle whiffs of iodine, which come as a surprise to anyone accustomed to lighter, younger whites, but which immediately captivates lovers of mature, complex whites. Swirling it round a little, straightaway it offers a blend of fresh, citrus aromas, with lactic notes (cheese) and ripe fruits, of ripe pear skin and lime blossom tea, with a very pleasant freshness once it becomes still in the glass. It is dry on the palate: don't expect a sweetish wine with this sort of maturity; its acidity is extraordinary and will enable it to continue evolving over time. The notes suggesting moisture and other aromas discerned on the nose are repeated now on the palate: evolved fruit, raw almonds and notes reminding us of cheese. It is an easy wine to drink, fluid, medium-bodied, a perfect companion for aperitifs and less complex dishes, mushrooms, full-fat cheeses and any mild dish combining these ingredients. Tondonia white wines relate extremely well to food and should be served at virtually the temperature of a red, remember: at about 14-16 degrees, or you will miss out on all its richness!
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Luis Canas
Ripe red fruits combine with interwoven oak to give touches of spice, cherries and a hint of licquorice. A beautifully elegant, lasting finish. 12 months in French oak & 6 months in American oak
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UKAN
UKAN is the new project of the youngest generation of the famous Eguren family. Ukan is a small winery that follows the Bordeaux model and is focused in producing a great wine in very limited quantities. Founded by Koldo Eguren, fifth generation of the family, with the winemaking collaboration of his cousin Eduardo. Together, they seek to reflect the Rioja Alavesa landscape into a unique wine using knowledge acquired from previous generations and adding a younger, more contemporary vision that both have learned in their international experience. The foundation of the project is in the vineyard, where a sustainable and ecological viticulture is practiced. This care for detail is spread into the elaboration process, fully hand-crafted, that takes place in the winery located in Laguardia. UKAN 2020 is the flagship wine, with an excellent second wine called Senderos being the only other wine made. UKAN is a complex, full-bodied, elegant and well-structured wine. Somehow it manages to be very drinkable but has a lot of ageing potential. Deep violet-red to the eye, this wine has a bouquet of blackberry, dark chocolate and caramel. It is luscious on the palate, offering polished tannins wrapped around black cherry, mocha, anisette, violet and butterscotch flavors that wind down to a licorice-infused finish. Highly recommended and freshly arrived in the UK.
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
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Lopez de Haro
17.5/20 Jancis Robinson "90% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha. Each variety and area were fermented separately in stainless-steel tanks, always with the grape’s own yeast and with spontaneous malolactic conversion. Typical fermentation temperatures of 25 °C, with short macerations. Aged for three-and-a-half years in Bordeaux barrels of French oak, half new and half used, with further blending and then further ageing in bottle. Lustrous dark crimson. Complex and utterly echt, with a long life ahead of it. Really serious wine."
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R. López de Heredia
A perennial CWM fave – a ready to wear fine wine at a fine price. Smells of leaf tea and autumn forest - what more could you want? Bargain. Some noted reviewers on previous vintages: Jancis Robinson OBE MW "Rich fruit plus development and real drive and tertiary aromas without a trace of new oak or alcohol! Good Value" Parker “More rustic and powerful than Tondonia. Easily Gran Reserva standard. Tertiary and developed, super-classy.” Suckling "rich and silky...plums, cedar and autumn leaves"
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
The wine is made from three quarters Tempranillo with the balance shared evenly between Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo. It has been aged for 6 years in American oak, with racking taking place twice every year. A traditional Rioja par excellence, the 2001, marries fruit and spice, charcuterie, vanillin and earthy richness; a cornucopia of quality in other words and one which will continue to get better and better.
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Marques de Murrieta
Top-end and faultless. Beautifully broad, aristocratic dinner wine. Liquorice, chopped nuts, balsamic, leather. Silky rounded tannins. Tons of awards
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38
Bodegas R. Lopez de Heredia
2012 Vintage Report 2012 was rated as a ‘very good’ vintage in Rioja. The year was defined by the lack of rain which was 25% lower than normal for the region with over a third of the rainfall falling after the harvest. High spring and summer temperatures resulted in picking starting early. The rain finally began to fall on 11th October, extending the harvest by an extra week but all grapes were in by 18th October, which is still early for Haro. Given the dry conditions, yields were down as grapes were small. However, they were also very healthy and López de Heredia are very happy with the quality of the vintage, saying that the wines, ‘continue to develop favourably in terms of freshness and fineness’ and that they have a long ageing potential. The 2012 is a blend of 70% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacho with the remaining 10% a mix of Graciano and Mazuelo. The wine was aged in barrel for 6 years, being racked twice per year and fined with fresh egg whites. Overall, the wine has spent 10 years maturing in the perfect, cool conditions of López de Heredia’s incredible underground cellars and was bottled in January 2022. Tasting Notes The nose of the 2012 Tondonia Tinto Reserva is gloriously open, perfumed and fine. Gentle aromas of jamón and cured leather mingle with subtle notes of raspberry tea and a touch of musky, cedar spice. A sweet red cherry compote top note comes through but, above all, this is remarkably scented, floral and mineral-pure Tondonia. The palate is incredibly fresh with well-defined red fruit and a vibrating hint of orange zest at the back. This is a more accessible and less dense style than the previous two vintages but that is more than compensated for by its superb poise and sense of energy. Reminiscent of the lovely 2009 in its charm, the wine dances on the palate towards the focused, pure finish. Delicious. Drink 2024 (decanted) to 2042. Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer BBR “2012 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Tinto Reserva (13%)
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UKAN
UKAN is the new project of the youngest generation of the famous Eguren family. We highly recommended them and they are freshly arrived in the UK. UKAN is a small winery that follows the Bordeaux model and is focused in producing a great wine in very limited quantities. Founded by Koldo Eguren, fifth generation of the family, with the winemaking collaboration of his cousin Eduardo. Together, they seek to reflect the Rioja Alavesa landscape into a unique wine using knowledge acquired from previous generations and adding a younger, more contemporary vision that both have learned in their international experience. The foundation of the project is in the vineyard, where a sustainable and ecological viticulture is practiced. This care for detail is spread into the winemaking process, fully hand-crafted, that takes place in the winery located in Laguardia. Senderos de UKAN is the result of a careful selection of Tempranillo vineyards from different villages in Rioja Alavesa, mainly planted on limestone soil. There is great energy, freshness and character here, moreish yet impressive with every taste.
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Luis Canas
Ripe red fruits combine with interwoven oak to give touches of spice, cherries and a hint of licquorice. A beautifully elegant, lasting finish. 12 months in French oak & 6 months in American oak