R. Lopez de Heredia and Viña Tondonia - at last

Our last stop in Rioja, R. Lopez de Heredia proved well worth the wait. Located in the historic town of Haro in Rioja Alta, R. Lopez de Heredia is the oldest winery there and sits on the River Ebro. This was the winery we had been waiting for - old, moldy and full of history. Lopez de Heredia is still family owned and operated, employing traditional winemaking techniques. They own all their vineyards, Viña Tondonia being the most famous, and all their plantings are bush vines that must be hand-picked. Fermentation occurs naturally from yeasts that are present on the grapes and in the winery while in huge wooden vats that date back to the early 1900s. They achieve filtration by pouring the wine through a huge mass of the stems leftover from the grapes after they are de-stemmed; I've never heard of this method before but I like the recycling aspect. The wines are aged for much longer than most wines, even the whites, with 8-10 years being the typical aging period for most of their wines. The barrels themselves may be used for 10 years, and an onsite cooperage repairs old barrels and makes new ones as needed using American oak. They use egg whites for fining, a very traditional "old world" practice for clarifying wine; 6-8 egg whites are needed per barrel, with the point of this exercise being to coagulate any particles that may be left over after filtering through the stems. Every vessel we saw was wood - there was not a single stainless steel tank to be found. Using wood allows for natural oxygen exchange, which may help with the wine's longevity. Bottling, corking and labeling are all done by hand, and they use very durable cork from Catalunya, Spain, since they age their wines in bottle for such extended periods of time. Miles of underground cellars mean the temperature and humidity are just right for aging wine. Penicillin mold along the walls, barrels and bottles keep bacteria out of the wine. 

Fermentation Vats

The Cooperage

Restored Barrels

The Caves

Bottle Aging White Rioja

We tasted these two wines, a white and a red.

2004 Viña Gravonia is 100% Viura, the dominant white grape of Rioja. It was rich, nutty, toasty and creamy while maintaining a nice acidity. I've appreciated R. Lopez de Heredia's style of white wine since I first tried their 1993 Viña Tondonia Reserva while working at the San Francisco Wine Center a couple years ago. This producer consistently showcases the ageability of white Rioja and the Viura grape.

2002 Viña Tondonia is 75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 5% Mazuelo and 5% Graciano. It had fruit flavors of cranberry and plum along with leather and spice. Very smooth but still bright, with the capacity to age for much longer. This delicate wire cage that you sometimes see on red Rioja serves no other purpose than tradition.

As you can see from the vintages of these wines, they've rested for years in the cellar before release. But even with the inventory that Lopez de Heredia holds, their wines are still affordable at around 20 euros a bottle, or about $30. And even though most of their wines are available in the U.S., we picked up a bottle of 1998 Viña Tondonia Reserva White Rioja to enjoy in the future and bring us back to this delicious trip.

Viva la Luna de Miel en Rioja!

Rioja en Rioja

On a recent trip to Spain I spent 3 days in the famous wine region of Rioja, touring the vineyards and enjoying the wines. In the past I've described Rioja as my go-to wine. Drinkable, interesting, ageable, and versatile with a lot of foods, it is perhaps most importantly affordable.

In Rioja, wine laws dictate the aging and labeling of the wines, with the reds always being made from majority Tempranillo. Sometimes other grapes (Graciano, Mazuelo, Garnacha (Garnacha is the same grape as Grenache in France)) are included in small percentages (less than 15% of the wine). Minimum aging for a Rioja wine labeled Rioja Crianza is 2 years in the winery, of which 1 year must be in barrel. Rioja Reserva wines must be aged for at least 3 years in the winery, with 1 year being in barrel, and Rioja Gran Reserva must be aged for 5 years in the winery, with at least 2 of those years in barrel. This aging makes the wines both ready to drink and worthy of cellar time. The funny thing about these aging rules is that most wineries age their wines for longer, so either their Crianza ages for longer than required but still shorter than their Reserva, or they just don't make a Crianza.

White Rioja is generally made with a combination of Viura, Malvasia, and Garnacha Blanca, though Viura is by far the dominant grape. It is also known as Macabeo and stars prominently in Cava sparkling wine, Spain's version of Champagne, made in the Cava region. White Rioja is largely unknown in most of the world, but the Spaniards drink it up, and it's easy to see why. Some crisp and refreshing, others deep and complex, it was fun experiencing this wine as well.

When we planned to go to Rioja we had a vision in our heads that everything would be old, given the tradition of winemaking has been going on in Europe for way longer than the United States. But, the first winery we went to looked like this:

Very cool, but not old. Bodegas Ysios opened in 2001, setting a trend in avante-garde winery style. The name Ysios pays "homage to Isis and Osiris, two Egyptian gods closely related to the world of wine." Ysios produces only Rioja Reserva made only from Tempranillo, aged for 14 months in oak and a total of 3 years in the winery. 

Another super-modern winery that we visited, called Bodegas Baigorri, does a great tour and lunch tasting. The main tasting room is enclosed in a glass cube visible from the road, and the winery and restaurant reside in 7 floors below, built into the hill, with the winery operating by gravity-flow. Building underground provides for natural temperature and humidity control in the winery; concrete helps too. 

Lunch was delicious, and I particularly enjoyed the white and pink wines.

I like how they infused their wines in certain dishes... especially the dessert:

While modern in both their facilities and practices, these wineries uphold the traditions of the land. Not a bad way to start our visit in Rioja. 

More to come...  Salud!