R. López de Heredia is the oldest family-owned winery in Haro, Spain, and one of the most legendary estates in the entire Rioja region. Founded in 1877, the winery is world-famous for its fierce dedication to historic, centuries-old traditions. They use original wooden vats for fermentation, age their wines in old American oak barrels made by their in-house cooperage, and release their bottles far later than almost any other producer. The result is a distinct, deeply complex, and world-class style of wine that tastes like a step back in time.

Wine Advocate:

I was very much looking forward to the 2004 Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva, the next vintage of this wine after the spectacular 2001. 2004 was a perfect climate year. This is a developed white that was matured in well-seasoned, neutral American oak barrels for 10 years in their old caves, where the wine gets pungent aromas of mushrooms, pollen, beeswax, white pepper, kerosene, cereals and something herbal (celery and even asparagus) that reminded me of the 1964. The palate is velvety and dry and super tasty, with a salty twist in the finish. It's still a baby even after years in bottle. This should age superbly in bottle. I think this is slightly better than the 2001, one of the freshest and most elegant vintages for this bottling. Bravo! 10,000 bottles were filled in November 2018. Before and after aging in barrel, the Gran Reserva wines also spend some time in oak vats.