R. Lopez de Heredia, Rioja, Vina Tondonia, Riserva Blanco 1988
Base of neck
9.5/10 Score Alder Yarrow, Vinography
Medium yellow gold in the glass, this wine has a tremendously aromatic nose of paraffin, wet stones, and pine sap. In the mouth it is crystalline in its acidity but with phenomenal balance, tipping between a crackling minerality and an herbal, candied lemon peel sprinkled on old parchment and fresh hazelnuts. There is a depth and complexity to these flavors that is a little difficult to fathom, and much more difficult to describe. The closest I can get is the feeling of being really hot and sweaty on a muggy day, and then stepping into an ancient stone room deep underground, feeling the cool air envelop you as you smell stone and dust all around you. Take that for what it is worth — a metaphor, nothing more. The finish lingers long and electric with a resonance of grapefruit and rainwater. Gorgeous and utterly distinctive.
Mixed Format Shipping
- Only same formats can ship in same container (750ml with 750ml).
- Marie-Jeanne (2.5L), Jeroboam and larger format require manual shipping invoicing - INQUIRE for pre-purchase Quote
- Supplemental shipping charge may apply for mixed format orders after checkout.
- Best Practice: purchase in separate orders
Shipping Services Available
- Ground | ships Monday - Tuesday.
- 2DAY | ships Monday - Wednesday.
- Nextday | ships Monday-Thursday.
- Some Expedited Services are invoiced separately depending on destination.
- UPS pre-paid shipping rate good for 7 days. Pre-paid rates that ship after 7 days from purchase may be subject to supplemental charges and/or storage fees.
Most economical quantity to ship
- 6 standard bottles or 12 standard bottles
➡️ LEARN MORE
- PRE-ARRIVAL offers are products that we source from either our large network of North American private collections or our partnerships with European suppliers or Domaines.
- ESTIMATED TIME of ARRIVAL: Unless otherwise stated in the individual product page our Pre-Arrivals are estimated to land in Los Angeles within 30-50 days or so from upload date. Inquire for specific dates for the item you are interested in.
- BOTTLE CONDITIONS: as these are pre-arrivals our final label and ullage descriptions are not yet included. If you have concerns inquire and we will do our best to get answers.
- PRICES: published prices are commensurate with bottles in good condition for their kind and age. Most will be in "excellent" to "pristine" based on how we select wines to represent in our store.
- Custodial chain for our Pre-Arrival wines are temperature controlled professional logistics carriers, licensed or bonded warehouses.
- Pre-arrival wines not eligible for promotional shipping rates
- Pre-arrival wines not eligible for promotional discounting
- We will contact you when your order is ready to ship. You will also be notified via email when you will need to select a shipping date. Shipping will be FOB Chapter 4 Venice, CA.
- ALL SALES FINAL
- NON-REFUNDABLE
- We reserve the right to cancel and refund in full any pre-arrival order at any time for any reason.
