Bodegas Alion / Vega Sicilia Tinto Ribera del Duero 2019
(Castilla Leon, Spain) - [JS 95] [WA 94] [WS 92]

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 adapt 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 over-oaked, it is all about elegance, harmony, class...and sheer hedonistic pleasure.

The 2018 vintage reflects weather influenced by the Atlantic, with higher than average precipitation, cool temperatures, and a relatively late harvest, between 28 September and 12 October.

This vintage marks the first time the winery has used their new winemaking facility, with tanks at half the capacity, enabling greater precision during extraction. They increased the new oak on this vintage by up to 80%, with American oak representing 10%, targeting a more generous wine. 2018 was a fresh, Atlantic-influenced vintage, giving this Alión a more vertical, longer, and elegant expression.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Alcohol by volume 15 %
Variety Tinto Fino
Average age of vineyard 38 years
Vineyard surface area 70 ha (Padilla de Duero, Valbuena de Duero and Pesquera de Duero)
Planting density: 2,222 plants/ha
Altitude: 750 m
Yield: 3,800 kg/ha - 26.6 Hl/ha
Harvest: Hand-picked in 12 kg crates from September 28th to October 12th

Ratings and Reviews

95 Points - James Suckling:
Ripe, tarry plums and black cherries with violets, rocks, coffee and graphite. Refined notes of balsamic fruit and cocoa powder, too. Full-bodied and juicy with an iron fist of tannins, yet at the same time so velvety and polished. Very long, focused finish, showing lots of finesse and layers. Drinkable now, but better after 2025.

95+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
The 2019 Alión was cropped from a drier vintage compared with the average, and the wines from that year tend to be powerful, concentrated and with structure. They shortened the maceration by 11 days and used concrete for part of the élevage, trying to reduce the impact from the oak in the wine. They define 2019 as a powerful, concentrated and juicy vintage, sensual and unctuous. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has mellow acidity (4.4 grams) and a pH of 3.88, reflecting the warm and dry year that delivered powerful and concentrated wines, similar to the wines from 2015. It's quite fruit-driven, ripe and juicy, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins despite the limited pumping over they did to avoid extracting too much, and the maceration was also shortened.

92 Points - Wine Spectator:
A tightly-meshed red structured by firm, chalky tannins, but there's a plush, polished edge to that frame, and it's well meshed with a pretty range of boysenberry coulis, violet, mocha and Earl Grey tea leaf flavor. Hints of tar and black licorice linger on the juicy finish.