2011 Tondonia Reserva MAG 94WA/95TA
La Rioja, Spain

The Tondonia is the flagship of the winery and probably nowadays the most popular of all the Rioja wines made in this special region. This again is a wine I personally buy every year - you will read that a lot here - I only try to offer wines that I personally admire. These wines drink amazingly well now but have the ability to age gracefully for another 20 years easy. Wines like this that are held back and matured at the winery should cost a fortune, but lucky for us, Lopez de Heredia thought to do this a long time ago, setting them up to economically be able to do so and offer us a true superior value wine.

Grapes: Tempranillo 75%, Garnacho 15%, Graciano and Mazuelo 10%

94 pts Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2011 Viña Tondonia Reserva is darker and shows riper fruit, a rounder palate and some dusty tannins. A year of ripeness, concentration and tannin, the wine is powerful with the finesse of Tondonia. Tasting this next to the textbook 2010 Tondonia revealed how this has more muscle and a wider back and the 2010 epitomizes the finesse and elegance. 270,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019. Drink: 2022-2029. (Jul 2022) - Luis Guttierez - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

95 pts Tim Atkin, MW
(13%). Aged for nearly six years in very old barrels, Tondonia is one of Rioja's most proudly traditional wines. Tempranillo dominated, with 20% Garnacha and 5% of both Graciano and Mazuelo, this is complex, mature and well-structured, with plenty of acidity, sinewy tannins, some balsamic sweetness and a taut, focused, age-worthy finish. 2023-35. (2023)