Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Tondonia - a Spanish marque for old wines



Vina Tondonia comes from the Rioja firm R Lopez de Heredia, a firm that specializes in long aging of their wine. Another one is Castillo Ygay which is the topic of another tidbit later. There is a tradition of aging Rioja in barrels for a long time. I think this wine was bought in one of my Japan visits between 1999 and when it was drunk at the second Peter's Wine Circle gathering in December 2002. It was overshadowed on the night by a Parker-style new wave Rioja (1994) as well as an older traditional Rioja, a 1970 Ygay which will be the subject of that later tidbit.


Tondonia is now available in Hong Kong (this bottle was bought in Tokyo), and in old vintages too! I recently bought some 1990 white Rioja (21 years old!) and some 2000 Tondonia. Just this last weekend, I saw a new shipment including a Gran Reserva of the same year as above; it sure looked tempting. The other wine from the same firm, Bosconia is also available, and in similarly ancient vintages too!

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