R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
The most uncompromisingly traditional house in Rioja, famous for reds and extraordinarily long-aged whites released decades after the vintage.
About R.
Founded in 1877 by Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta, R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia is the oldest winery in Haro and one of Rioja's three founding producers, an anchor of the historic Barrio de la Estación railway quarter. Still owned and run by the founder's descendants — today the fourth generation, led by María José López de Heredia — the house is celebrated for its near-total resistance to fashion. Wines are fermented and aged in old American oak for many years, the cellars' own cultures left undisturbed, and bottles are released only when the family judges them ready. The estate is most revered for its long-aged whites: the Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco and the Viña Gravonia spend years in barrel before sale, emerging as some of the world's most singular white wines. The reds, rosé and whites of Viña Tondonia and Viña Bosconia are benchmark expressions of classical Rioja.
Flagship wines
- Viña Tondonia Reserva
- Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco
- Viña Bosconia Reserva
- Viña Gravonia Crianza
Editorial notes
For the house's signature, seek the white Viña Tondonia or Viña Gravonia — aged whites unlike anything else in Spain. Releases lag the vintage by many years, so current bottlings will be older than most Rioja.