Tondonia comes from another of the great Rioja houses, López de Heredia, perhaps the most traditional of them all. Longevity is the name of the game, with high acidity to balance out the heavy oak and support extended aging.
The golden colour of this wine is showing its age in amber highlights, and the nose offers a dusty, oxidised character. On the palate the immediate effect is of a tart, oaky wine, and yet with not quite the huge hit of oak I was expecting from a wine of its reputation. It is intensely dry, and a little less heavy-bodied than I expected, with a smooth rear palate that has a little tang of salt like sherry. There is no fruit quality left at all; it is a dry, divine, bitter, oxidised blend of acid and oak.
Vintages may vary, but ‘81 and ‘82 were a pair of the best in Rioja, and a Gran Reserva like this will only be made in the better years. Vintages apart, I cannot imagine a more sublime expression of white Rioja.
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