López de Heredia
Viña Tondonia is a beautiful vineyard of over 100 hectares, situated on the right bank of the Ebro River, where the most typical Rioja wines are grown.
The soil is alluvial clay with a high proportion of limestone. The vines, cared for with enthusiasm and love, cover a total area of 170 hectares and produce an average annual yield of about 800,000 kg of grapes.
Grapes from Viña Tondonia are always used in the production of the highest quality wines, and naturally, with truly exceptional vintages. The first “Reserva” was bottled by the founder as early as 1890, and some bottles are still kept in the family wine museum.
The basis of a good wine is manual harvesting, grape by grape, which no machine could duplicate. Manual cutting, with the curved knife called a “corquete,” prevents the grape from being injured and releasing must that could ferment prematurely. To ensure this does not happen, containers made in the López de Heredia cellar are used. And so begins the dialogue between grape and wood that lasts for years as the wine matures.
The last part of the grape harvest takes place when the containers are emptied into the weighing machine – in hoppers. From there, the grapes pass to the destemming machines, which gently break the grapes to extract the must. This must immediately comes into contact with the yeasts on the fine wax layer of the grape.
The must is fermented in large oak vats with a capacity of 240 hectoliters. A first fermentation lasts about seven days, during which the must becomes wine. However, it retains a certain percentage of residual sugar that needs to be removed in a subsequent slower fermentation that occurs in Bordeaux-type oak barrels and lasts up to five or six months. The result is a smoother and more perfect wine.
After the two fermentation processes and the sediment or lees are removed, the wine is ready to be aged in 225-liter American oak barrels in underground cellars, with conditions of perfect temperature and absolute tranquility.
Barrel aging period:
6 years, racked twice a year and clarified with fresh egg whites.
Bottle aging period: Rest, unfiltered.
Pairs well with all meat dishes, regardless of preparation. Perfect partner for a leg of lamb stuffed with wild garlic, rosemary, and anchovies.
Analytical parameters:
Total acidity: 6.6 g/l.
Residual sugar: Very dry.
Allergens information
Contains sulphites.
SKU: 107392
