Tasting Notes
A rare, unique and extremely exciting white from Lopez de Heredia. In fact all the whites are scarcely seen compared to their red counterparts, which tend to feature a little more. But they are WELL worth seeking out. “2016 was a superb vintage in Rioja, and the 2016 Viña Gravonia Blanco, which has the cellar aroma that all the wines, especially the whites, have, due to the longer time the wines spend in barrel. The white vines in this vineyard are now 92 years old and their juice was fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. They explained, “We have never used selected yeasts.” It was matured in their well-seasoned American oak barrels for four years. It’s paler than any of the other whites, and it has a little less pungency, with very good freshness. It’s elegant, subtle, clean and ethereal. They had good yields and a good climatic year. It was bottled in November 2022. I give these wines a conservative drinking window, but they will probably last much longer.” 95pts, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate Tasting# You read a lot of marketing fluff about ‘family winemaking tradition’, but at López de Heredia, it’s real. Maria José López de Heredia and her winemaker sister, Mercedes, couldn’t care less about wine fashions. Their bodega in Barrio del Estacion in Haro is a living museum - cobwebbed Miss Havisham barrel rooms, black furry mold everywhere, little old men doing the same job that their father did decades before. The wines slumber for years in barrel and then bottle prior to release. Rarely can age worthy wine of this quality be found at this price.
More Info
A rare, unique and extremely exciting white from Lopez de Heredia. In fact all the whites are scarcely seen compared to their red counterparts, which tend to feature a little more. But they are WELL worth seeking out. “2016 was a superb vintage in Rioja, and the 2016 Viña Gravonia Blanco, which has the cellar aroma that all the wines, especially the whites, have, due to the longer time the wines spend in barrel. The white vines in this vineyard are now 92 years old and their juice was fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. They explained, “We have never used selected yeasts.” It was matured in their well-seasoned American oak barrels for four years. It’s paler than any of the other whites, and it has a little less pungency, with very good freshness. It’s elegant, subtle, clean and ethereal. They had good yields and a good climatic year. It was bottled in November 2022. I give these wines a conservative drinking window, but they will probably last much longer.” 95pts, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate Tasting# You read a lot of marketing fluff about ‘family winemaking tradition’, but at López de Heredia, it’s real. Maria José López de Heredia and her winemaker sister, Mercedes, couldn’t care less about wine fashions. Their bodega in Barrio del Estacion in Haro is a living museum - cobwebbed Miss Havisham barrel rooms, black furry mold everywhere, little old men doing the same job that their father did decades before. The wines slumber for years in barrel and then bottle prior to release. Rarely can age worthy wine of this quality be found at this price.