Jamessuckling.com | JS 95
Published: Jun 20, 2022

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.

The Wine Advocate | RP 94
Published: Jan 31, 2023

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.

The Vega Sicilia group wineries are in constant transformation. At Alión, they updated the grape reception and fermentation chamber in 2018 where they introduced smaller tanks and concrete for part of the élevage. In 2019, they bought separate tanks for the press wine, and in 2020 they started using oak foudres for the élevage of the wine. They produce between 250,000 and 300,000 bottles from their 130 hectares of vineyards.

Drink Date: 2022 - 2029

Temposvegasicilia.com

Description
Alión comes from carefully selected terroirs located in the very best areas of the Ribera del Duero DO region. The soils complement each other, and allied with the same winemaking process used in Vega Sicilia, they have produced wines with a firm structure.

2019 was a drier vintage than normal, which was also noted during the grape tasting. Potent, concentrated skins, yet with a very firm structure. Work essentially started with extraction to develop a vintage for which we reduced total vatting for fermentation to around 11 days. The odd batch was refined before being barrelled and reducing the impact of the wood and the toast is important for this type of vintage. Adding concrete helped us to work on the verticality and freshness of the wines.

2019 was a potent, concentrated, juicy vintage, yet with a sensual and unctuous side too.

General information
Alcohol by volume 15 %
Variety Tinto Fino
Average age of vineyard 39 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 3,500 kg/ha - 24.5 Hl/ha
Harvest Hand-picked in 12 kg crates from 26 September to 10 October
2019 Vineyard cycle
The previous cycle ended with warmer temperatures than normal and the weather conditions enabled good lignification. Normal spring temperatures with precipitation enabled budbreak to occur as normal during the second fortnight of April, with no frosts recorded. Total precipitation for the entire wine-growing season was below average.

Storage, serving and drinking window
This wine is suitable for drinking now, but it can be aged for up to 20 years if stored in the ideal conditions of: 12-14 ºC / 54-57 ºF and 60 % relative humidity.

The recommended drinking temperature is 18 ºC/ 64 ºF.

Production
256,526 Bordeaux, 7,005 Magnum, 608 Double Magnum, 80 Imperial, and 5 Salmanazar bottles.

Year bottled: may 2021