This is more of a nostalgia post, rather than a wine post, because I visited this winery and wine region with my now-husband (who proposed to me during this trip!) back in 2015.  This winery and this trip are so special to me for so many more reasons besides the fact that we got engaged while we were here in northern Spain.  

We chose coming to Rioja, Spain for this trip because I was just starting to teach my husband more about wine.  The tempranillo grape, grown primarily in this region, was one of my husband’s new favorites.  The region is known for excellent wines, beautiful vistas, and great food, especially in the nearby Basque Country, but the food in Rioja is not too shabby either, and we ate very well in Logrono and in La Guardia. We were there at the end of October, just after harvest, to find a patchwork quilt of red and yellow grape leaves cascading throughout the rolling hills of the countryside.  Driving around Rioja in the fall goes down in my own personal history as one of the most beautiful regions I have ever had the privilege to visit.  

Lopez de Heredia is one of the oldest, classic Rioja style wineries in the region and is located near the town of Haro.  They do not use one single computer, and stainless steel is nowhere to be found. We arrived early for our tour and waited in a standard decanter-shaped room which was the most modern part of the whole facility.  It was filled with bottles of wine and other souvenirs for purchase.  The day was rainy and cloudy and gloomy, but the room was bright and promising.  

We made our way with one other couple and their 10-ish year old child to a large room where the pressing of the wines takes place.  Using a very old press, they demonstrated how the juice bleeds out of the sides of the press, being gathered at the bottom.  It looked bloody and a bit macabre.  We were then shown the enormous oak foudre holding the wine as it ferments.  They are so large that they hold hundreds of gallons of wine.  I would say they were at least 9 feet tall!  These foudre tanks are extremely old and contain remnants of previous vintages.  Not the most sanitary, but, hey, its Spain!  

We then took a dive down deep into the cellars.  The moment you started walking down the dank stairway into a dimly lit massive maze of barrels and bottles, you can smell the mustiness of the place.   It really smelled like the oldest, wettest basement that you can imagine.  There were stalactites of  “good” mold dripping everywhere on the walls, from the ceilings and even some mold growing on some of the oldest barrels.  I swear that every time I open up a bottle of Lopez de Heredia, Vina Tondonia, I can smell this cellar. It sounds gross, but for me, it adds to the amazing experience of drinking this fabulous wine.

Eventually we made our way to the tasting room, which was brightly lit and not so dankly aromatic, despite being adjacent to the cellar.  We tasted six wines, which were all delicious.  The white wines of Rioja are also some of my favorites.  Most people don’t think of white wine when they think of Rioja, but the viura grape is prevalent here, and is great for aging, along with the grenache blanc grape which is also popular in this region.  The Lopez de Heredia Vina Grovonia bottling of the viura grape is one of my favorite white wines of all time.  

Following the tasting, we stopped at the cooperage.  Lopez de Heredia makes all of their own barrels in house using American Oak.  We got to see some of the coopers at work and the aroma of the cooperage was pleasant with the smell of lightly toasted wood.  

Finally, we were back at the decanter-shaped shop where we were given a bottle of 2004 vintage Vina Tondonia, which was the current release in 2015.  This wine tour is one of the most memorable tours I have had, and certainly the most unique.  If you are ever anywhere near this region, I highly recommend a day trip, or more, and to make a reservation to visit this incredibly historic winery.