Alion - Bodega Vega Sicilia - 2021

75 cl

Robert Parker: 96 points

Alcohol content: 14.5% vol.

Grape varieties: 100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo)

Vinification:

Vinified in wooden barrels, then aged for 18 months in new French barriques.

Tasting note:

The 2025 vintage is the 2021 Alión, a memorable year, one of the best in recent times; it was relaxed and textbook in every way, with snow at the beginning of the year, a mild spring disturbed only by frost in Pesquera that did not affect other villages, a relatively cool summer that slowed things down, and the grapes ripened to perfection without rain after September. Grapes from 13 different villages throughout the Ribera del Duero, 130 hectares, were used. The grapes are chilled for 24 hours and, after destemming, are placed in oak and stainless steel tanks where they are cold soaked for five days and then undergo a native fermentation through a "pied de cuve". It has 14.5 % alcohol, a pH of 3.81 and 4.8 grams of acidity (tartaric acid). It is very fresh and fruit-driven, with the balance and elegance of the cooler vintages, a little austere, with very elegant and polished tannins and a different quality when the grapes ripen slowly. They believe that the 2024 has the potential to be like the 2021, after the 2022 and 2023 vintages were much more difficult. It is a large production of 244,244 bottles, 7,075 magnums and some larger formats.