Some wines feel like they slow the clock. López de Heredia was built on that idea. María José López de Heredia often says she wishes she could “freeze time,” and you taste that wish in every bottle: not nostalgia, but the patience to let wine become itself at its own pace.

In Rioja, few estates resisted the push toward speed and polish. López did—quietly, stubbornly—by keeping the old ways alive: vast, ancient wooden fermenters tended in-house; long rests in old barrels; even longer rests in bottle; and cellars where the living ecosystem (that famous bloom of mold and those cobwebs) isn’t a mess to clean but a sign the wines are aging under protective, stable conditions. The labels may say Crianza, Reserva, or Gran Reserva, but at López those words describe style, not a release schedule. Everything stays until it’s ready.

That’s why opening these bottles feels like opening a chapter rather than a snapshot. Viña Cubillo 2017 is the so-called “entry” wine only because it’s the friendliest introduction, not because corners were cut and the wine wasn’t exactly rushed out the door! It’s Lopez’s lesson in restraint: lively, savory Rioja that already arrives composed—what most bodegas would call Reserva timing for a wine labeled Crianza. Viña Bosconia 2014 narrows the lens: a vineyard voice with a Burgundian kind of poise, all incense, earth and red fruit woven together by time rather than technique. And Viña Tondonia 2012 is the house’s signature in full: a long, graceful arc where spice, leather, and dried fruit meet freshness—proof that slow élevage and slower release are not luxuries here, but identity.

In a world that rushes wine to market, López de Heredia makes you wait. But the good news is this: without even knowing it, you have already done all the waiting you need to do. Now you can simply drink the wines.

Lopez de Heredia Rioja Crianza Vina Cubillo 2017 - $35.99

Lopez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Vina Bosconia 2014 - $54.99

Lopez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Vina Tondonia 2012 - $74.99