The La Tâche of Rioja ⭐️ 97pt L. Heredia Tondonia 2001 & 2013 "Gloriously Ethereal. A Work of Art. Underpriced Cult Wine."
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Originally sent to our list on October 12, 2026. Pricing and availability reflect that date — for current pricing and stock, see artisan.wine.
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A Personal Note
Dear Artisans,
Some bodegas make wine. López de Heredia stops time. For 149 years and counting, the family has been crafting sublime perfection in Haro, and today I have two of its Viña Tondonia Reservas for you, the 2013 and the 2001, both directly from the bodega.
I call it Spain’s First Growth. The Viña Tondonia vineyard is, to me, the La Tâche of Rioja: one family’s great vineyard, a monopole in all but name. And it is priced so low it looks like a typo.
One Family, One Great Vineyard
Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta founded the bodega in Haro in 1877, and in 1913-14 he created the Viña Tondonia vineyard: more than 100 hectares on the right bank of the Ebro, on alluvial clay with a high proportion of limestone. Every grape comes from the family’s own vineyards, and the bodega has never used fruit or wine from anywhere else.
The bodega in Haro: today, at harvest, and in its early years
Inside The Bodega
Walk into the cellars in Haro and you leave the twenty-first century at the door. There are some 12,900 oak barrels, 72 wooden fermentation vats still at work, and wine moved from barrel to barrel by hand under ceilings thick with black mold and cobwebs. The family even makes its own barrels: López de Heredia calls itself the only bodega in Spain that hand-crafts every barrel its wines age in.
Inside the cellars: barrels, the old wooden vats, and the bottle cellar
Flipping The Bird To Modernity
While much of Rioja chased new oak and early release, the family kept doing it the old way. The Viña Tondonia Reserva rests no less than six years in old American oak before bottling, and the Gran Reserva gets ten. It ferments in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts, is racked twice a year, fined with fresh egg whites, and bottled unfiltered. Then it waits.
How long? Wine Advocate on the 2013: “It should be released in the spring of 2025, almost 12 years after the harvest. And look at the price…” Tim Atkin calls the 2013 “Gloriously unique.”
Gloriously Ethereal. A Work Of Art.
The critics are unanimous. Vinous gives the 2013 97 points, “a benchmark classic—refined, enduring and unmistakably Tondonia.” James Suckling gives the 2001 97: “This will age for a long time.” Wine Advocate found the 2001 had “evolved beautifully and quite slowly,” in bottles “kept in the winery for all these years.”
The people who drink it say it best. On CellarTracker, one called the 2001 “light, gloriously ethereal” and “almost a work of art.” Another: “An absolute steal at the retail price.” On the 2013: “Within the finest pantheon of Heredia, this has a stunning palate.”
James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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Why This Matters
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The Wine · 2013 Reserva
2013 Viña Tondonia Reserva. Rioja Alta.
Released almost 12 years after the harvest. Vinous 97.
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva 2013
Rioja Alta, Spain · 750 mL
70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo, fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts, aged no less than six years in old American oak, and bottled unfiltered in November 2021. 190,000 bottles were made. Every review is below, highest score first, then what CellarTracker drinkers are saying.
What CellarTracker Drinkers Are Saying
Why so low? These bottles come to us directly from the bodega, and our mission has always been to pass that value straight on to our Artisans.
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The Wine · 2001 Reserva
2001 Viña Tondonia Reserva. Rioja Alta.
A quarter century old, directly from the bodega. James Suckling 97.
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R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva 2001
Rioja Alta, Spain · 750 mL
The bodega’s Reserva recipe: Tempranillo (75%), Garnacho (15%), and Graciano and Mazuelo (10%), all from its own vineyards, six years in barrel, racked twice a year, fined with fresh egg whites, then rested in bottle, unfiltered. John Gilman: “2001 is a great vintage in Rioja and the Viña Tondonia ‘Reserva’ has fully captured all of the potential of this magical year.”
What CellarTracker Drinkers Are Saying
Why so low? These bottles come to us directly from the bodega, and our mission has always been to pass that value straight on to our Artisans.
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More From Spain
Recent Offers Worth A Second Look.
Four more Spanish greats, each with every review on its offer page.
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Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine Of 2020
Marqués de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2010: the Rioja legend, back in our cellar.
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Ten Years On
Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2016: four critics at 97, and the last bottles of the vintage.
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Ribera’s Rockstar
Bodegas Mauro: Mariano García’s own bodega, after 30 years making Vega Sicilia.
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Cult Priorat
Mas Martinet Clos Martinet 2021: 98 from Wine Advocate and 97 from Vinous.
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The Bottom Line
Rioja royalty, priced like a typo.
Two Viña Tondonia Reservas from the bodega that has done things its own way since 1877: the 2013 at $64.99 (Vinous 97), against up to $80 elsewhere, and the 2001 at $149.99 (James Suckling 97), against $314 at Tasting House.
Open the 2013 tonight and lay the 2001 down, or the other way around. Either way, this is what Rioja tastes like when nobody hurries it.
Salud,
— James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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