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Producer | López de Heredia |
Country | Spain |
Region | Rioja |
Varietal | Tempranillo Blend |
Vintage | 2013 |
Sku | 18551 |
Need I say that Lopez de Heredia is one of my all-time favorite wineries? The bodega captures the world’s fascination as the oldest family estate in Rioja (since 1877) and the only one to hew so closely to traditional methods of winemaking that to visit the winery is an exhilarating step back in time. Cobwebs, ancient vaults, candles, no modern technology, hand-racking of every barrel by practiced generations of vintners, and rooms of bottles so old they have only chalk markings to indicate their provenance, continue to awe visitors.
Tasting Heredia is pure time travel; you realize that wines used to be this amazing, this earthbound, this real, this alive. The winery refuses to release their wines for years, sometimes two decades or more, in order to ensure that they reach the perfect drinking maturity nestled within the protection of the bodega’s own dark cellars. This crianza is actually old enough that it could be labeled gran reserva. It slept quietly in barrel for three years and six more in bottle! Heredia now feels it is mature enough to join you for dinner. With a bright ruby color, an enrapturing nose and a palate of wild cherry, vanilla, cedar and leather, it shows its elegance with tapas, sausage, lamb chops or quail. Parker's Wine Advocate, 92 points. (Gary)
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