Address:  Avda. de Vizcaya 3, 26200 haro, La Rioja Spain
Phone: +34 941 310 244
Website: www.lopezdeheredia.com

Don Rafael fell in love with the region, especially the area around Haro, the mythical capital of the Rioja Alta region. He observed that there was a magical combination of soil and climate that would offer the perfect environment for producing wine that would eventually become world famous. Around 1877 he began the design and construction of the complex that is today known as the López de Heredia bodega (winery), the oldest in Haro and one of the first three bodegas in the Rioja region.

Bodegas López de Heredia stands out as one of the few family-run bodegas regulated by the Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja – DOC (Appellation region).  The visitor’s pavilion and the process of adapting the entrance and yard, is the first stage in Bodegas Lopez de Heredia’s global museum project that it is developing to promote a greater awareness of its facilities and history.

The visitor’s pavilion is a modular metallic construction situated in front of the old bodega buildings (see photo above), and in the future will become the visitor’s access to the bodega. It was conceived as a movable building and was erected to mark the 125th anniversary of the bodega in the 2002 Alimentaria Fair in Barcelona.

Many conditions have to be fulfilled for our wines to achieve that superlative quality which makes them live on in the memory of those who have tasted them. The personality of our wine is influenced by climate, soil, attention in the vineyards, wine-making and, finally, by the care it receives in the cellar during the lengthy period of ageing in oak barrels before its bottle ageing. It is a long, almost mystical, perfecting process.

For this reason, Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta founded Viña Tondoniain the years 1913-14.  Tondonia was to become the bodega´s most famous vineyard and product.  Viña Tondonia is a beautiful vineyard of over 100 hectares, situated on the right bank of the river Ebro, where the most typical Rioja wines are grown.

Grapes from Viña Tondonia are always used in making our highest quality wines, and naturally, with truly exceptional vintages, becoming “Gran Reservas” if the vintage is truly exceptional – as was the case in 1976, 1973, 1970, 1968, 1964, 1961 and 1954.  The first “Reserva” was bottled by the founder in 1890. A few bottles of this are still kept in the family wine museum.