Spain · Rioja

R. Lopez de Heredia

R. López de Heredia is the most archaic winery in Rioja, founded in 1877 by Rafael López de Heredia and still family-owned in the fifth generation under María José López de Heredia. The bodega is defined by extreme traditionalism: wines ferment in old wooden vats, age for years—sometimes decades—in American oak barrels in tunnels carved beneath Haro, and receive minimal intervention. The result is wines released commercially only when the winery deems them ready, often a decade after harvest for the Gran Reservas. At auction, Tondonia Tinto Gran Reserva is the flagship (69 lots, $231 average, 1985 most-traded), with Bosconia Gran Reserva commanding the highest per-bottle average ($333, 34 lots, peak in 1991). The Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva ($383, 28 lots, 1991 peak) is one of the world's most idiosyncratic white wines—oxidative, amber-tinted, and capable of outlasting many reds. Tondonia Blanco Reserva also trades actively (62 lots, $176, best in 2005). Prices peak at $1,554 for exceptional Gran Reserva parcels. The winery's refusal to modernize ensures that older releases—1970s, 1980s, early 1990s vintages—are the most prized and the most traded at auction.