TN: 2005 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia

WINE TALK
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  • 2005 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (6/5/2020)
    I don’t know this wine well enough. I don’t really understand it. Resolutely dry, it initially comes across as severely austere. Only about 90 minutes later does it start to flesh out, and emerge from its windowless cage. It’s still a monkish wine, contemplative, requiring a search for what it trying to say. There are elements that I perceive as nutty, or as melon with zero sweetness. There’s a breath of hay, and a hint of spice, but it’s all wound up in a tight ball, and not easy. Intellectually interesting, I don’t see this as pleasurable, but rather challenging.

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I have found that how you pair this wine can make a big difference in how it comes across.

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What are your preferred pairings?

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Here’s a note from a few years back with some crowdsourced wisdom

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I subsequently opened another bottle of the 98 at a Spanish dinner with a group local collectors a few years ago.

We drank it across 10 courses of very traditional Spanish foods - paella, sardines, cheese & ham, oxtail, octopus, etc.

It was uniformly agreed wotn among the selections below
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Thanks!

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How’s the American Oak feel? In your face, or subtle?

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Didn’t notice as directly oaky.

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It’s nice to have wines challenge us, but sometimes the food match can make all the difference. What did you pair it with?

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Just a few nights ago had an '06 Gravonia and was thinking Valencian paella would be a great pairing.

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Nothing appropriate.

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Lopez de Heredia and Musar whites are my favorite wines, I recommend an hour of air, and they pair with really tough stuff because they are so multifaceted. Have been amazing during white asparagus season and also can stand up to heavier dishes like roast chicken and pork. Feel like steaks might be a bridge too far, but who knows the owners of Musar mentioned the white does quite well with them at a recent tasting.

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I find Tondonia Blanco to be great with a number cheeses, just not with the stinky stuff. That said I would think that it is still very early days for this one.