Bodegas Alión "Vega Sicilia" Ribera del Duero 2019

Alcohol: 15%

Grape(s): Tempranillo 

Localization: Ribera del Duero, Spain

Tasting Notes: The wine is extremely inviting as a result. The fruit is pure, aromatic and complex, reflecting the varying terroir in this triangle of vineyards between Pesquera del Duero, Padilla, and Valbuena. There is spice and weight, but also great length and class. This is a true example of contemporary Ribera made without compromise.

95 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: Fresh and elegant. They used 80% new barrels, with up to 10% made of American oak looking to (in their own words) give more sucrosity and sweetness to the wine, as it's a more vertical, tense, and elegant expression of Alión. Part of the wine matured in concrete, as they want to keep working the texture and freshness. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has a pH of 3.8 and a mellow 4.6 grams of acidity, round and soft. The truth is that the wine comes through as subtle, elegant, and balanced, with very integrated oak and a nice texture.

The Domain: Alion was launched with the 1991 vintage by the famous Vega Sicilia estate. Inspired by the "modern classic" style of top Bordeaux, owner Pablo Alvarez wished to adopt this style of wine to the unique climate and soils in the western Ribera del Duero. Around half the grapes come from Vega Sicilia vineyards, the other half from Alion's own vineyards near Penafiel. The wine is made by Javier Ausas, head winemaker of Vega Sicilia, at Alion's dedicated, state-of-the-art winery. Alion is certainly a modern wine, an opulent and seductive 100% Tempranillo aged for 14 months in new French oak barrels, but - as one would expect from Vega Sicilia - there is nothing over-the-top about the wine. Not overripe, over-extracted or overoaked, it is all about elegance, harmony, class...and sheer hedonistic pleasure