López de Heredia

This family-owned winery makes highly individual wines in a style essentially unchanged since its inception in 1877. They grow all their grapes using organic methods, ferment using only natural yeasts and do not filter their wines. They employ four full-time coopers to make their barrels. Gravonia, Tondonia, Bosconia and Cubillo are all individual vineyards which have been in the family for generations. Patience is a family watchword, as this bodega thinks nothing of waiting twenty years before releasing a wine. Their “Crianzas” are aged like others’ “Reservas” and “Gran Reservas”; the “Reservas” as long as others’ top “Gran Reservas”. And the ultimate accolade of “Gran Reserva” is accorded to only the very greatest vintages. Rarely are there more than three of these in a decade. These are uniquely traditional Riojas of massive, boundary-crossing repute. Both red and white are capable of staggering longevity. We are immensely proud to represent them. The only rub is that the estate’s uniqueness has now become universally recognised with a resultant run on stocks. Even with the producer’s necessity to raise prices,the prices remain entirely reasonable for uniquely great wines sold at peak maturity.

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Producer:	López de Heredia
Diversity:	Female Winemaker
Country:	Spain
Region:	Rioja
Date Founded:	1877
Vineyard Size:	170 HA

Property History:

Founded in 1877, López de Heredia stands out as one of the few worldwide wineries that respect, and adheres to core principles taught by their ancestors. “Perhaps no winery in the world guards its traditions as proudly and steadfastly as López de Heredia does… it is paradoxically a winery in the vanguard, its viticulture and wine-making a shining, visionary example for young, forward-thinking producers all over the world… At López de Heredia, there is serenity that comes with adherence to core principles…” August 12th, 2009 by Eric Asimov, The New York Times

Owner History:

Based on the knowledge acquired in his relationship with the French businessmen residing in Haro and supported by his trade and accounting studies during his stay in Bayona, Mr. Rafael López de Heredia and Landeta began a winemaking process, once that the Bordeaux businessmen had returned to their country; departure motivated by the change in tariff and customs policy, which made it very difficult to export wine to France. For this reason D. Rafael decides to drill the Calado, to obtain an underground space where to stack the barrels in which the aging of his wines begins. Already in that moment of the closing of the French borders, in 1892, our founder had foreseen to elaborate wine, first with grapes coming from the vineyards of the region and later, Selection and love. Two words that became the Bible of their wines, a maxim that R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia has been and is preaching for more than a century. More than a hundred years in which, through four generations and despite the continuous and tempting offers of multinationals, companies that absorb all kinds of business, R. Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia is still a single-family warehouse in which the four generations that have directed it, have pursued the philosophy and the labor and social maxims implanted by its founder more than 142 years ago.