1998 Lopez de Heredia Rioja Rosé Viña Tondonia 12.5%
20% tempranillo, 60% Garnacho, 20% Viura. Old for a rosé, but young for an LdH. Looks more orange than rosé. Almond oxidative nose, period. Tannic, strong acidity, saline note. Light to medium bodied, dilute mid-palate. Expecting complexity of flavor, got none. Disappointing.
2000 Lopez de Heredia Rioja Viña Tondonia Reserva 12.5%
75% tempranillo, 15% Garnacho, 5% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo. From half-bottle (mr. wishful thinking thought that would help, but this must have been bottled too recently for it to matter much). Made the mistake of decanting for two hours, hoping to coax some more aromas, but the nose just closed down from the bottleneck's expressive, loamy dill to the glass's surly, muted dill. The mouth feel, on the other hand, showed lovely weight and ideal acid/sweet balance, giving as much pleasure as mouths unassisted by noses can hope for (this would be unbeatable for someone with a cold). Note to inventory: should be wonderful in a decade.