2000 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Bosconia- Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (12/21/2009)
13.0% alcohol. This is a delightful, refined wine that gives expression to Rioja that too frequently lacks. Light red color that is somewhat reminiscent of rust. Very pretty, restrained nose of bright red fruit, a woody note, deep earth, and minerals. In the mouth, this is the embodiment of refinement. It has a light palate presence, cutting a focused swath across the tongue, with beautiful red fruit. It’s got a floral, earthy quality that is intoxicating. Smooth and balanced, with great purity, there are no sharp edges. Absolutely focused and terrific. A-
Great stuff. Recently had a '95 La Rioja Alta that sounds somewhat similar - especially the cut. I found the Alta to have a river of refreshing acidity, and yet it somehow managed not to buzz too much. What a neat trick and a gorgeous style of wine. Slays the monsters!
Curious if anyone has anyone had their Rose (hope this isn’t too much of a thread jack)?
It was interesting but didn’t really inspire me:
Heredia Vina Tondonia Rose Gran Reserva - 1998
Gorgeous orangy color. Immediately upon opening, it smelled like a Sauternes, but perhaps like an older Sauternes in which caramel had started to nudge the apricots out of the way. After some time in the glass, the nose became more sherry like, tangy and salty fresh. Strawberries and melon rind were also present but not in enough quantity to round out the nose. Admittedly, this wine was hard for me to evaluate since I don’t drink much aged rose, but the flavors were somewhat jumbled in the mouth. Caramel, butterscotch and a bit of minerality all played a role. I would like to try more aged Rose but wasn’t blown away by this particular effort. 87pts
Slaw the monsters is right, Evan … You could see that this was balanced and harmonious now, but it would just go and go. It was really terrific stuff. Tasty and fun. And reasonably priced.
“Curious if anyone has anyone had their Rose”
…this is a wonderful (but unusual) wine…
I happen to love the oxidative style and your note represents the wine beautifully…
BTW, the '54 Tondonia and the '61 Tondonia (reds) have been amazing in recent years…the Bosconia from '76 was “youthful” about 5 yrs ago
And at the risk of further highjacking the thread…
what other producers of traditional rioja are similar to Lopez de Heredia that have good distribution in the U.S.? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lopez de Heredia in Georgia.
I don’t know about “good distribution”, but I’ve seen some gran reservas from Bodegas Beronia (1996, 2001) and Berberana (2001) available in the US through wine-searcher. Very good Riojas and quite inexpensive.
I have had the rose, need to dig up my notes on that. Gus, excellent TN, very consistent with my experience, although my assessment was more like Stephen’s. I loved it. By the way, Stephen, I tasted the 76 Bosconia Gran Reserva a few months ago and it was totally in its prime, drinking nicely and not showing any negative effects of aging at all.
Scott, unfortunately, in my experience, there’s nobody else doing traditional Rioja in the same way as Lopez de Heredia (and a wine consultant I know with lots of background in Spain said the same thing when I asked him). I agree with Noel in liking Beronia’s wines, but it’s not quite the same to me. Even with wines like La Rioja Alta 904, which a lot of people consider to be traditional, I feel a modern influence. I like it, but it’s not the same as Lopez. I strongly encourage you to buy some Lopez online - the cost of shipping is negligible compared to the great value I feel the LdH wines offer. PJ Wine has some good prices and selection of LdH wines, and Crush also has a nice selection - these have been my two go-to sources, and I’ve had good experiences with both. (By the way, PJ has a lower priced bottling of a Beronia Crianza that I think is an excellent QPR too). No affiliation with either retailer, just a happy customer.
I’ll report on the 01 Bosconia when I pop it later this week, this thread has me pumped for it!
If were talking about “the same”, then, of course, nothing is truly “the same” as anything, in my opinion, especially at this level. The question was, however:
I can understand, though, your comment on Beronia seeming “modern” if you are referring to trying young ones like 2001. The 2001 Beronia GR is very young and, at this point, could be viewed as such. But if you try the '96 now, I don’t know how this can be considered “modern” - well, to my palate anyway.
As regards La Rioja Alta 890, the youngest I’ve had was their '89, and that certainly didn’t seem modern to me. The '95 LRA 904, however, is showing differently. I’ll open a '95 LRA 890 in a few days and will see if the difference in age is significant in apparent style.
As regards…
(and a wine consultant I know with lots of background in Spain said the same thing when I asked him).
…I really just depend on my own perceptions, but, since you brought it up, Victor de la Serna considers Beronia and LRA (as well as a few others) similar in style to López de Heredia - albeit not “the same”.
All fair points, Noel. For clarification, by “the same” I didn’t mean identical, but rather, equivalent; and I haven’t found any other Rioja producers that feel close to equivalent for me. My mention of the wine consultant is not so much that I take his judgment over my own experience, just that it was a data point of corroboration to me.
However, I’m sure my experience with Rioja is infinitesmal compared to yours, so readers would be well advised to follow Noel’s notes before they follow mine on this!
Thanks for the recs on the Beronia and Rioja Alta.
I’ll do some looking around for those.
I think I’ll get a chance over the holidays to purchase some Lopez de Heredia.
How does Heredia’s Vina Cubilla compare to the Bosconia and Tondonia? It looks like a wine released sooner - similar to a crianza?
Thanks again for the recs. This is a region I’m curious about but really haven’t started exploring yet.
Tom - as mentioned, all wineries are different. But there are a number of wineries that have been producing wines that age wonderfully for many many years, some longer and some almost as long as LdH.
If I’m not mistaken, Marqués de Riscal and Marqués de Murrieta are even older. Do their wines today compare to the wines they made 20 years or 50 years ago? That’s a debate one can have, but Murrieta may surprise you if you purchased and held some of the wine they make now. CVNE (Companía Vinícola del Norte de España) is roughly as old, as LdH and their wines can be stunningly good, and their affiliate, Contino, although newer, is most certainly worth looking at.
La Rioja Alta, Muga, and Bodegas Riojanas are also producers to look for. The same? No. But in that vein.
Remember though, that a lot of producers put out different lines - a more “classic” line and a “modern” one. So Riscal for example, will put out Baron de Chirel as well as a crianza/reserva line, or Muga puts out Torre Muga, Prado Enea, and their crianza/reserva line.
But don’t open a bottle from 2004 and compare it to a 1985 LdH however, compare the same vintages.
It seems that what you like is the acidity and slightly oxidative style, which means that you should look for the “classic” lines of the producers mentioned. And if you really want to surprise yourself, try a “modern” wine after fifteen or more years. Best.
Thanks for the insight about many of these producers releasing multiple lines of wines.
I think this has been confusing me and is why I’ve struggled to parse meaningful insight into producer styles from various online notes.
Video tasting note at my blog site: http://bit.ly/YCq0j" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The written version:
2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Bosconia- Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (12/25/2009)
Tasted a bit different from when I tasted this at the store, but nonetheless is showing very classic Lopez de Heredia profile - cigar box, exotic spice, very slight gaminess/band aid. The acidity is higher and more tangy than I remembered; to the point of being a shade harsh if sipped alone on day 1. On day 2, smoother on its own, and most of all, the acid worked well with food (coq au vin with mushrooms, mashed potatoes in this case) - cutting through nicely. As the night wore on, the spice became more aromatic. Enjoyable now if you give it some time to open, but on the whole I would recommend to cellar this - in this I can see the hints of what this will become - showed commonalities with the '76 I tasted a few months ago, at a very young stage. 90 now, up to 92ish many years down the road. (90 pts.)
To be honest, Todd, I’m not entirely sure. I tasted this at a retailer in November, and that seemed much more ready (though of course context was different), so I wonder a bit how much bottle variation people experience with LdH too. But as for the full bottle I had- yes, I would cellar. Not undrinkable by any means now or in a few years, but knowing what it will become, I would sock it away for a good while. If you have many bottles, certainly check in now and then though. (Reminder, I’m talking about the 2001 - sorry folks, in retrospect maybe I should’ve started a new thread).