Bodegas Alion, Ribera del Duero Red 2017
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96
James Suckling
Lots of chocolate and berry with some coffee-bean and vanilla undertones. It’s full and layered with plenty of fruit, round tannins and pleasing complexity of smoked and toasted wood. Tar undertone. Very drinkable now, but better after 2022.
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.
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Bodegas Alion, Ribera del Duero Red 2018
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95
Decanter
Fresh and very floral with violets and berries. Blackberries and orange peel, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm, linear tannins. Excellent length and structure. Seriously structured, Better after 2024, but already beautiful.
The 2018 Alión follows the path of the 2016: it is fresh and elegant and from a cooler (more Atlantic) vintage with more rain than the average and a relatively late harvest between September 28th and October 12th. 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 (something they started in 2016), and in 2021 they are experimenting with a 4,000-liter Rousseau foudre, 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 wine matured until it was bottled in June 2020. The truth is that the wine comes through as subtle, elegant and balanced, with very integrated oak and a nice texture
The more accessible entry from Ribera del Duero icon Vega Sicilia, this wine has aromas of blackberry preserves, Turkish delight and clove. It fills the mouth with flavors of cherry pie, plum pudding, dark chocolate, violet talc and licorice wrapped in opulent tannins that recede into a citrus-zest and floral finish.
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Bodegas Alion, Ribera del Duero Red 2019
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94
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. 256,526 bottles, 7,005 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in June 2021.
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.
Deep violet-red to the eye, this wine offers a bouquet of black cherry, rose petal and baking spice. Luxurious tannins and nicely balanced acidity support flavors of blackberry preserves, chocolate-covered espresso bean and anisette. The lengthy finish is marked with notes of lavender and spice.
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Bodegas Alion, Ribera del Duero Red 2020
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95
Wine Advocate
2020 was drier than average until the harvest, when it rained and diluted the grapes, and they had to wait to regain concentration. The result is that the 2020 Alión is a wine with better balance and freshness. They felt the skins were very ripe and they could extract more and use a little more American oak (4%) in the élevage. From 2019, they kept the press wine separate until June, and they keep separate quantities of press wines that are aged in different containers depending on the quality of the wine. They used a percentage of concrete and oak vats for the élevage, which gives the wine more verticality and freshness. It’s a subtle and elegant Alión, not as dense as some other vintages, but with nice balance and very elegant tannins. In 2020, they produced 285,485 bottles of this wine, 7,115 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in May 2022.
The 2020 Alión is made with grapes from several dierent plots in Padilla de Duero, Valbuena de Duero and Pesquera de Duero and was aged inbarrels and foudres, with a small portion going into concrete vats. Garnetred in hue. The aromas feature notes of sour cherry and blackberry, along with wild herbs and undergrowth. The palate is dry and chalky, with mild freshness and a rich, taut mouthfeel that precedes a polished, smooth, longlasting and complex nish. This is Vega Sicilia’s modern approach to Ribera del Duero.
There’s a finesse and polish to this red with blackberries, black olives, iron and terra-cotta. Medium to full body, with slightly chewy tannins and a savory finish. It will soften nicely with time. Try after 2025.
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