lopez de heredia

scottreiner

scottreiner

scott reiner
there has been some question as to whether or not one should decant older lopez de heredia wine. tomorrow i am having a big lopez dinner, so i asked maria jose lopez de heredia for her thoughts. answer below in the original spanish and my horrible google translation, tasting notes to come:

spanish

Con respecto a tu pregunta, decirte que no recomendamos decantar estas botellas ni tampoco abrirlas con ningn tiempo de anticipacin. Son vinos que han respirado mucho durante todos sus aos de crianza en barrica y, por tanto, aunque han seguido evolucionado durante su envejecimiento en botella no suelen acusar aromas de reduccin. Adems, en nuestra familia, consideramos que la oportunidad de cada persona debe ser la de conocer el vino de principio a fin. Con 10 minutos en la copa se ir viendo la evolucin y es mucho mejor hacerlo as.

Espero haberte solucionado la duda y me alegro mucho que hayis elegido estos vinos para su degustacin. Los 3 Via Tondonia blancos son espectaculares. Los 1970 y 1973 muy frescos y ctricos y el 1976 ms aceitunado y evolucionado, ms meloso y complejo. El 1976 Via Tondonia es ahumado, tostado y el Bosconia 1981 uno de los mejores en estos momentos. Ambos el Tondonia y el Bosconia 1981 son de las aadas que estn en su mejor momento de consumo.

english

With regard to your question, tell you not recommend these bottles to decant nor open them with any lead time. These are wines that have breathed a lot during her years of barrel aging and, therefore, although they have continued to evolve during aging in bottle aromas are often accused of reduction. Furthermore, in our family, we believe that the opportunity for each person must be to know the wine from beginning to end. With 10 minutes in the cup will see the evolution and is much better to do so.

I hope I solved the doubt and I'm glad that you have chosen these wines for tasting. The 3 white Tondonia Vine are spectacular. The 1970 and 1973 very fresh, citrus and olive and 1976 more evolved, more mellow and complex. 1976 Vina Tondonia is smoked, roasted and Bosconia 1981 one of the best right now. Both the Bosconia Tondonia and 1981 are the vintages that are at their peak consumption.
 
I love that she thinks that you are missing out on something if you just decant a bottle and hide it for hours. I've always thought the same way.
 
I agree on all fronts here. She once told me that she doesnt recommend decanting the old stuff as well. I liked what was written somewhere in Liquid Memory or Corkscrewed (cannot remember which) about decanting a wine being like watching a play but missing the opening act.
 
I'm sure Maria knows best but I can only offer that I've had the '81 Bosconia three times over the past two years. There is a fair bit of bottle variation with that wine but I've found it to be never less than very good and my best bottle was stellar.

For two of the bottles, we decanted an hour or so in advance and both were excellent. In all three cases I (and others) found that the wine was best toward the end of dinner. So if you do pop and pour, please give the '81 lots of time to open up.
 
Scott...you've probably already worked out your menus, but in case this might be of any use, this is what we tried for a blanco last year and had fun with.

1989 R. Lpez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Via Tondonia Blanco

final results for food pairings with both pork and seafood, both served with 2 different sauces: shrimp stock infused cream and tomato. also, saffron rice made with some shrimp stock added.

pork, with either sauce, is a thumbs up (strips cut from chops and seared, btw...am sure other cuts would work as well). seafood that we tried varied in results.

with shrimp stock/cream sauce, the wine becomes amazingly fuller, deeper, richer....with tomato based sauce, the wine becomes brighter, fruitier, more angular. both are a delight...just working in different ways.

tuna....was best raw with the wine. cooked, a fishy-ness pervades the finish which is distracting, tho edible (tomato better than cream)

saffron rice and scallops.....saffron rice is a yes, scallops are again fishy, so no. (interesting, given how much the LdH website recommends seafood choices for this wine!)

eringi mushrooms in shrimp/cream sauce - excellent, wow eliciting

notes for future tries....since shrimp was the base of the cream sauce as well as the saffron rice, must sub-in shrimp for the scallops next time...and try with both sauces.

post meal sips: this wine seems fully open now....no need to decant for sure, as the 24 hr audouze method seemed to work for this bottle. (edit: not even sure audouzing was necessary, but you can always cork it after opening and trying a sip.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top