Description
Bodegas Alión was formed in 1986 as a winery which would be run independently to its big brother, the great Vega Sicilia. This 85-hectare wine estate was founded by the Álvarez family to provide a modern expression of Ribera del Duero wine. 35 hectares of the estate is located around the winery, with a further 50 hectares dedicated to Alión within the historic Vega Sicilia vineyards. Alión is made using state-of-the-art equipment.
Tasting Notes
The 2017 Alión, the only wine produced here, comes from a challenging year marked by spring frost and a warm and dry end of the season, so they reduced the amount of new oak by 8%. It fermented with indigenous yeasts, and 10% of the volume aged in concrete, completely unoaked. The change in the oak regimen helped with the style of the vintage, which was marked by the frost that hit part of the Alión vineyards. Furthermore, the end of the season was warm and dry, and they had to work to control ripeness and power and perhaps the possibility of more aggressive tannins. It’s a classical Alión, with some developed aromas, juicy and round but not heavy, with just a tad of earthy rusticity. With time, it develops more balsamic notes and hints of licorice. 230,032 bottles, 7,04 magnums, 614 double magnums and a handful of bigger sizes were produced. It was bottled in June 2019. [94 Points, Luis Gutierrez – June 2021, robertparker.com]
