Rioja Focus: López de Heredia’s Timeless Appeal

Descending into the cellar of the López de Heredia winery in Rioja is like stepping into another world. The dim, damp stillness, covered in cobwebs and mold, feels more like a vampire’s lair than a winery cellar. It’s a place suspended in time – quiet, mysterious and oddly comforting. It’s this timeless atmosphere that feels like a vital part of the wines themselves, as if they draw life from the place where they mature.

“If a wine spends 12 years in the winery, it has to take something from it.” Maria Jose López de Heredia, one of the family co-owners of the winery, said of the unique ecosystem and silent symbiosis that occurs. Here, the cellar is not simply a place of élevage but an integral part of the wine’s identity, forming another layer within what is often described, in complex and abstract terms, as terroir.

The winery has stayed true to its roots since the late 19th century, using equipment and methods barely changed over the past century. Large oak vats, some from the earliest vintages, are still in use. Grapes pass through a century-old hopper and destemmer that doesn’t fully remove the stems, deliberately leaving some intact. Fermentation happens in these old oak vats without temperature control. Like in Jerez, the winery’s north-facing windows open during warmer fermentations to channel cooling north winds.

Aging is done in American oak barrels made in their own cooperage, producing about 200 barrels a year from wood seasoned for three to four years and lightly toasted. Younger barriques are often aged using press wine.

López de Heredia’s Reservas age about six years in oak, followed by another six years in bottle. Their Gran Reservas spend even longer, with the current release dating back to 2005.

Their Viña Tondonia bottling comes from a vineyard nestled in an oval-shaped meander of the Ebro River, on its right bank. The soil gently shifts from clay-rich alluvial deposits near the river to sandstone and limestone higher up the slope, striking a balance between structure and finesse.

The wines are blends, generally about 70 percent tempranillo, 20 percent garnacha, 5 percent graciano, and 5 percent mazuelo, though these proportions vary slightly year to year. The garnacha, graciano and mazuelo bring naturally lower in pH levels, which is essential for the wines’ impressive aging potential.

A tasting spanning the 2001 to 2013 vintages (excluding 2002 and 2003) revealed a house style marked by incisiveness, restraint and an ethereal quality, with a consistent savory thread running through the range.

The 2013 vintage, shaped by persistent rainfall through June and a late harvest, shows an acid-driven, delicate profile with a sense of tension and delineated fruit. The 2012, by contrast, reflects a warmer year, marked by what López de Heredia describes as noches cerveceras – warm summer nights that influenced ripening. It presents a darker aromatic spectrum, with licorice, blood orange and subdued red fruit, alongside the characteristic savory note.

The 2011 feels more restrained and quiet. It's medium-bodied with notes of dried fruit and tile, reflecting a cool June and warmer fall. Both 2011 and 2012 saw some botrytis influence, requiring careful grape selection.

The 2010 vintage, meanwhile, shares a similar finesse with greater precision, more focused tannins, and sharper definition while maintaining elegance. In contrast, the 2009 is warmer, broader, with more open aromatics and a fuller palate.

For López de Heredia, 2008 is a particularly compelling vintage, one she compares to 1974. Described as unremarkable in its growing season, the wine itself shows a linear profile, with notes of leather and dried cherry, and a notable sense of balance within a medium-bodied frame. The 2007 stands out for its cohesion and refinement. A year in which the Gran Reserva was also produced, it combines length and elegance with a silky texture, its toasty notes well integrated into a precise and composed expression of fruit supported by finely judged tannins.

At 20-years-plus of age, the 2005 already shows a pronounced tile hue, a clear marker of its evolution. A warm, healthy and notably dry vintage, it offers greater flesh, with subtle caramel notes emerging on the nose and a more expansive aromatic profile. The palate is broader and more rounded, though it retains balance within its more generous expression. The 2004 follows a similar path: the nose is subdued, with tertiary notes starting to emerge, while the palate remains expressive, balancing tension and flesh. López de Heredia calls this wine a “premature old man,” rounding out more quickly.

The 2001 stands apart as an exceptional vintage, defined by a rare equilibrium between evolution and fruit expression. The growing season was nearly ideal, with a rainy spring followed by even rainfall through the summer. The result is a wine of clarity and cohesion, with an elegant, finely delineated profile.

While the house style is consistent, vintage variation remains. Some less heralded years like 2013, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2001 reveal unique charms within the framework. Across all vintages, the wines share a linear acidity, gently evolved red fruit, and the textural influence of extended oak aging. These are truly special wines with distinct personalities.

– Jacobo García Andrade, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. You can sort the wines by vintage and score. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.