In 1877 Rafael López de Heredia came to Rioja, by a rather circuitous route. Born in Santiago, Chile in 1857, he travelled to Bilbao to complete his education, but found himself embroiled in the latest Carlist War, rising to the rank of lieutenant in the Carlist infantry. His exploits forced him into exile in France, where he took to studying commerce, and by chance made the acquaintance of a number of Bordeaux wine merchants. On his return to Spain, fully equipped with a sense of business and a new knowledge of winemaking, he established himself in Haro, at the heart of the Rioja Alta. Thus was sown the seed that grew into Rioja's supreme winery; Viña Tondonia.
Rafael was initially a trader rather than a winemaker, but his defining moment came in 1913 with the purchase of the Tondonia vineyard. He saw immediately the potential of this spectacular site. After a period of experimentation, which saw Tondonia planted with many different grape varieties, the perceptive Rafael recognised that Rioja's native variety, Tempranillo, gave the wines of highest quality. The vineyard was then planted exclusively with this variety, and remains so to this day.

Since the creation of the estate at Haro, four generations of the López de Heredia family have tended the vineyards. Rafael's grandchildren, Maria Jose and Alvaro, now run the business. The family's philosophy is to make wines that age well, with the Gran Reservas spending up to eight years in barrel. The oak, which is American in origin, is all very old, and even elderly barrels are repaired at their own cooperage rather than discarded. Thus, they act as a gentle seasoning to the wines, ensuring their longevity, rather than swamping them with overpowering oak-derived vanillin flavours that can be found in some lesser wines from this region. Thanks to the attention paid to good vineyard management, and great skill in the winery, the resulting wines are set to mature gracefully over many decades.

Confident of these qualities, many of the wines of López de Heredia Viña Tondonia are not released until on the way to full maturity, which is often well over a decade. This is a rare and commendable practice which deserves due praise, as do the wines themselves. We have listed two whites, Viña Gravonia and Viña Tondonia; both are excellent examples of white Rioja, but the white Tondonia is an absolute benchmark for the style. Do not let these maturing gems, the wines of Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia escape your attention. They are classic, old-style Riojas of immense charm and character-virtually without parallel in this day and age.