2004 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva

75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 10% Graciano and Mazuelo. When the company started out it in the early 20th century, it was launched as a high-tech, marketing-savvy company. Now they are seen as traditional, said Pedro Ballesteros MW. Six years in barrel, clarified with egg whites. Poured from magnum. TA 6 g/l. Deep brick from core to rim. Totally different from the CVNE Imperial. Smoky and much less sweet-smelling. Oxidative winemaking and ageing has given a bit of marmite-like umami. Really savoury, a note of mocha and liquorice, undergrowth. Smooth, rolling across the palate. An impression of sweet old barrels. Still so much fruit, but it is the freshness that stands out, almost a little too much at this point in its evolution? (JH)

Such a beautifully aged gran reserva that shows the more traditional side of Rioja. Dried blood orange peel, white pepper, dried thyme, iron, berries, minerals, black sesame seeds and old books. So bright and firm, with a full body and an extremely bright, lengthy finish. If I bought a bottle I’d still want to keep it for another few years. Drink or hold.

Deep reddish garnet. Beautifully complex aromas: leather and undergrowth and yet still there is red fruit. A miracle. Silky and refined. Leathery, dry but there's no dryness on the finish. So complex. They will soon be moving on to the 2005.