TN: 2003 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia

• 2003 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (3/21/2020)
  Medium gold color which would be somewhere between worrisome and fatal on a white from Burgundy or the Loire (and which we see all too often), but which is right in character for this wine at 17 years of age. Served at about 58 degrees.

Waxy golden apples, sweet corn, a light nuttiness, a hint of honey and vanilla. Then the second act is a lovely wash of bright orange and lemon, with a dusting of white spices, leading to a long, fresh finish.

This bottle seems at a perfect age. I don’t know if 2003 was a very hot year in Rioja, but if it was, this bottle doesn’t show any sign of overripeness or alcohol, and the acids are exceptional.

I confess to being afraid to open these for company, since they look and act unusual, and people (even experienced wine enthusiasts) are quick to write off a wine where they perceive any oxidation. So I opened it for myself this evening, and now . . . I wish I could show this off to some of my drinking buddies. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Nice stuff. Thanks for the note! Love these wines.

Great note, thanks. I’m one of those quite relaxed about oxidative notes in whites and love interesting wines like these. Would love to try this one.

It was amazingly good with food, too. Before dinner, I had some Manchego, cashews and almonds with it, and that went perfectly.

Then at dinner, we got takeout from The Playground (who did a great job of it – fellow OC foodies should support them through the shutdown if possible), and there was some great spiced Hummus, roasted cauliflower with chimmichuri, pastor, curried carrots, and it just worked with one thing after another.