2019 Vega Sicilia Alión Ribera del Duero

Sweet oak scent that bears a striking resemblance to some members of the Penfolds family. Black tea, blackberry, smoky notes, long and expansive on the finish. Ornate in style, thanks to the elaborate oak spice. (RH)

More modern than Vega Sicilia. The first two vintages, 1991 and 1992, were made at Vega Sicilia until the Alión winery was finished. Initially the wine contained the produce of young vines of the Vega Sicilia estate which now go into Valbuena. Some vines from all over the Ribera region are also responsible so there is lots of variation between ingredients. Winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga: ‘ When Pablo asked me how to improve Alión in 2016, I said we had to do what we did at Vega Sicilia in 2010. So we went from 15 to 52 different vats which gives us so much more precision. I love the verticality of the wine but it was sometimes too tannic. With this new facility we aim for tailor-made extraction. Since 2016 we use a bit of concrete and from 2020 we work with some foudres. 2019 was a very big-boned vintage that demanded low-key remontage. I’m less proud of this 2019 than some other vintages. In 2020 the rain helped and we picked quite late.’ Purple depths. More sophisticated, complex nose than Pintia 2018 just tasted. But sweet, black-fruited palate and some dryness on the end. Not the most refreshing or succulent. (JR)

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.