Lopez de Heredia Gran Reserva Rosado worth it?

45 euros. French auction.

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I disagree with your assessment. Just a few years ago (2020), there were still a few bottles of the 2010 readily available via retail in Seattle. I paid mid-30s for those, which – for me – is a reasonable value for the quality of the RLdH rosado. Not collector bias, just my individual subjective assessment of the value that I’d pay for the quality of that wine. Others, of course, can make their own subjective quality assessment, and decide that $125 is an OK value. Different strokes, for different folks…

I agree completely with your comment above. However – for me – that says way more about the level of pleasure that many wines priced that high actually provide than it does about the RLdH rosado. More often than not, when I taste wines that sell for $100+, I find myself thinking that I wouldn’t even be willing to pay half of that for the juice that’s in those bottles – with the notable exceptions older vintages of the RLdH Gran Reserva reds and whites (the prices we paid back tne for the library releases of those wines through Cavatappi, while quite high at the time, were, in retrospect, fabulous value for the money).

Michael

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I’ve never bought a bottle retail, but have always enjoyed when I’ve tasted. I had the 2008 in November off the wine list at Zarate in Bilboa for just over 100 Euro, and it ended up being one of my top wines of the year. Savory and complex, starts with that oxidative note and the fruit just starts shining and singing as the wine gets air. I’ll buy at current US pricing once I come off a current buying freeze…

Plus 1

$100 once to try the wine and get a feel for it is probably worth it, the same way going to see Elton John/Eric Clapton at Dodger stadium awhile back was worth it to me so I could check off seeing two of the great musicians live.

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No dog in the price fight. I think I have 3 or 4 of the 2010s. I’ve tasted that a couple times in the last few years and won’t touch the next one for 2 more years—and with a day’s decant. Potential to be a fascinating bottle of wine.

I think I paid C$65 or so per bottle for those. One of the few things the monopoly (LCBO) did right, though you had to line up at the store(s) to get one bottle per person :wink: (I sent out mules/human drones to do my bidding!)

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I started this thread two and a half years ago and I’m glad to see there is still interest. I’ll let you all know that I have since pulled the trigger and tried this wine twice- once in 2022 and once in 2023. It was a great experience both times. I have two bottles in the cellar. Is it worth $125? I don’t know, in terms of pure drinking experience, probably not. But I’m fine at this price to enjoy once a year, which I feel is a good frequency for me.

I like your train of thought :slight_smile:

When I can get it (not every year) it is about US$60 a bottle. I can only 1-2 bottles, but am always a buyer when given the chance.

I didn’t see any discussion on this, but I recently saw an excerpt from the Wine Advocate that was included in a mailer from a retailer. It is from an interview between Luis Guttierez and Mercedes López de Heredia. Hopefully it’s not a problem to copy and paste it here:

Seems to imply that we will not see a release of the Rosado for 2013, 2014, and 2015?

A real shame and very well may lead to even higher prices. And once prices go up, they tend to stay up….

I wonder how long i can hold onto the 4 bottles ive got…

I visited the estate this summer, and they told us that the next rosado will come in 2028. I could not taste it or buy it, that was a bit disappointing, but well, the production is very limited…

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I have 3 bottles, probably the last I’ll get.

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Let’s make it two!

September would work.

I would say “expensive but worth it” if the bottle is on.
Only tasted a single glass of a 2008 about a year ago, but that was one of my most memorable glasses of wine ever . The word that came to my mind as I was drinking it: “haunting”. It was so complex, different, and delicious.

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Interesting you say “when the bottle is on”. I’ve since had this wine twice, both the 2010 vintage, and the experiences were different. The first was fantastic. The second time the bottle was good, but had a weird rubbery taste and the whole thing was just a little disjointed. The bottles were opened two years apart, so I could be mistaken, but I seem to recall even the colors being different; the better bottle being a classic pale Provençal rosé pink and the other being a bit more vibrant electric orange-pink.

Does anyone have a sense of bottle variation for the Heredia GR Rosado?

I find a pretty high rate of bottle variation across all the wines. Because of this I stopped buying about 20 years ago. I am good, longtime friends with the original US importer so I still drink the occasional bottle I pick up at less than wholesale but I can’t see spending current retail prices. With that said, the majority of bottles are fine and sound. I just think there are better, more consistent wines out there for less money.

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Care to share what you choose to pick up instead? Anytime I hear “better wine for less money” applied to a producer I love, my ears perk up!

Just to be clear, I really like the wines and especially the white and rose are pretty unique to what I know from the region. Given that I can pick up Lopes for less than wholesale (unfortunately I can’t do that with the rose these days as quantities truly are limited) when I do buy Rioja these days, I still get some Lopez. I think trad producers have probably been pretty well covered here on the board. Hermanos Pecina is pretty nice. I wouldn’t say it is an equal to Lopez but not shabby at all. But there are many. One that I don’t think many talk about is Muriel. I like it at the GR level. Not going to reach the heights of the better Riojas but I think you can still find those for under $30 and they will drink nicely for decades.

For my taste, without getting into specific producers, I find a ton of really appealing wine for under $50 or maybe slightly above. Riesling, Irouleguy, Barolo/Barbaresco, Loire Cab Franc, Loire Chenin, etc. Maybe those don’t work as a good substitute for Rioja but I get as much or more pleasure out of them and with a better hit rate than Lopez in terms of variation.

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