Coming from an exceptional vintage, the 2005 Viña Tondonia from R. Lopez de Heredia is a compelling blend of Tempranillo (75%), Garnacho (15%), Graciano and Mazuelo (10%), all sourced from their estate vineyards and aged for six years prior to bottling. This sensational wine opens with a bright bouquet of leather, cranberry, orange rind, forest floor and suggestions of black tea. Showing incredible focus and poise, this balanced Rioja is framed around flavors off leather, red cherry, teaberry, Mandarin orange and pipe tobacco that sit alongside brisk minerality, as the wine shows tremendous freshness and length through the long finish. This is an absolute stunning effort from this storied Estate and should continut to drink beautifully for years to come. Drink 2019-2035- 94 — 8 years ago
Dark ruby, bright, doesn’t look it’s age. Awesome funky old Cal Cab nose. Notes of cherry, cranberry sauce, dirt and some balsa wood. Some steminess. Great perfume. Nice in the mouth but missing just a little bit in the mid palate. Really enjoyed this. — 8 years ago
2009, Pio Cesare, Barolo, Nebbiolo. Chocolate covered cherries, leather, forest floor, dried herbs, etc. Multiple layers with well integrated tannins. Paired well with a grilled ribeye and home made grilled pizza. — 10 years ago
Beaitiful dark ruby color. Tobacco, aged beef, forest floor on the nose. Lovely wine, good value for money. — 11 years ago
Leather, cedar, dirt, barnyard, horse sweat, pencil shavings, old car leather, musty. Sweet on the palate. Long length, fruit still youngish, light body. — 8 years ago
Leather, vanilla bean, tobacco, green pepper, slightly candied blackberry fruit. Integrated tannins. Delicious slightly tar forest fruit. Wrapped with leather and forest floor feel. Feels like classic Bordeaux. Drinking great right now. Medium weight. Cabernet, Merlot, and PV. Drink now or hold. — 8 years ago
Tasted blind. Tawny color, translucent with amber rims. Notes of black cherry, cedar, some spice and a little barnyard floor. Sweet fruit in the mouth, with tannins fully resolved. Guessed 1955 Calon Segur. Perfect looking bottle, the cork revealed this bottle was reconditioned by the Chateau in 2000. — 8 years ago
Lots of cigar, leather, forest floor. Fruit is mostly in the distant background. Drink now. — 9 years ago
Feels like fahn wyin, looks like dirt, smells like flowers, tastes like dried leaves. — 10 years ago
Fantastic. Let it breathe for an hour. Drank w our two friends who own Manousakis Vineyard in Chania. Very special wine that is full bodied with soft tannins. Full of soft cherries and forest floor. It's the bomb — 11 years ago
It's definitely got that Rutherford dirt finish. Drinking well for such an early vintage — 11 years ago
In perfect drinking condition, excellent. Forest floor, iron, the smell of a cracked cacao bar, savory spice and believe it or not a tad of blue cheese. Good palate intensity that is precise and controlled, medium to fine tannins caress the haunting dried fruit and savory long and fresh finish. #bluesheeseinmywinearoma #stestephe #lafonrochet — 13 years ago
This wine comes from their young vines according to Sophia Hawkins who does their sales & marketing. She also mentioned this vineyards’s soil structure is also the oldest recorded on the planet. Please note, “Recorded”.
The nose shows, freshness, opulence & has sex appeal. Fruits are; ripe, lush, slightly candied and quite floral. Mixed red & dark berries. Blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, dark cherries and ripe juice strawberries. Red fruit liqueur & cola, vanilla, sweet, medium intensity, dark spice, tobacco with ash, dark, rich soils, soft alluvial soil with bright, red, dark, blue & violet florals.
The body is round, full lush and elegant. The firm, meaty, dark, tarry, chewy tannins. For vines so young, the fruit is amazingly ripe & delicious. The florals are straight up beautiful. Blackberries, dark cherries, blueberries, dark cherries and ripe juice strawberries. Red fruit liqueur & cola, vanilla, sweet, medium intensity, dark spice, herbaceous notes, tobacco with ash, dark, rich soils, soft alluvial soil, dark crushed rocks, dark penetrating minerals with bright, red, dark, blue & violet florals. The acidity is near perfect. The long finish starts; ripe, juicy and on the long set brings the dry stone minerals. While this drinks beautifully now, wait for even better things in five years. 92 now with a chance of a couple more points.
I really enjoyed their wines quite a lot. Both the noses and palates.
Photos of; their vineyard during harvest, the granite soil structure of their vineyard, Our host, Sophia Hawkins and their Cellar Door facilities. — 7 years ago

Good anise, forest floor, spices to round out the dark fruit. Love the rose petal notes. Tannins are elegant but would love to taste this again in a few years. — 8 years ago
Cru Beaujolais can be amazing! This one is. Meat, forest floor, mushrooms, cranberries, plums, lavender. Lots of layers. Finely nuanced wine. — 10 years ago
1983 - holding much better than equivalent Bordeaux. Rich, torrefaction - deep layers of fruit emerging through heaps of forest floor. — 11 years ago
Everything great Bordeaux should be. Cork crumbled in the Durand but first sniff and I knew it was on. Waves of saddle leather, tobacco, cedar, forrest floor and cherries. The wine was intense but more feminine than I expected, a great balance. Truly one of the best and most memorable bottles I've had the last few years. This is what drinking wine is all about, experiences that shake you to your core. — 11 years ago
Oh man. Oh man. Wow. This Chevy has progressed beautifully. Wet dirt, mushroom, red currant, cedar. — 12 years ago

Somm David T
Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator
The right order with our Porterhouses. Still has the Margaux elegance presence but, lacks the quality of fruit & characteristics of the 06 Rauzan-Segla.
Not the best vintage I’ve had from Lascombes. Interesting as this was a warm vintage. All my previous 2003’s have shown bright, ripe fruit. The fruits were dull & lacked freshness which, is very different than the other 03’s I’ve had to this point. I don’t know if the staff trimmed too much canopy and the fruit got too much heat and UV light, therefore losing freshness along with a lack of water during the season.
This will still drink well for another 5-8 years before it declines. Our Porterhouses helped contribute to a better experience masking some of its shortcomings.
The wine showed dull, dark fruit with more earthiness than expected given its evolution from its bottle age. Dry soil & clay, stones, dry forest floor, dry tobacco, used leather and withering & dark flowers. The acidity was pleasant but not up to par. The finish lacked Margaux beauty but, it did pop up here and there. Just no consistency. The fruit was flat and lots of dry earth on the long set. Not bad just no up to what I expect from Lascombes and the vintage.
Photos of; Chateau Lascombes, concrete tank cellar, barrel room with some unique lighting for a Bordeaux producer and their tasting salon. — 6 years ago