Vega Sicilia Alion Ribera del Duero 2020  £93.86

Vega Sicilia Alion 2020

Ground-breaking and independent, and the result of the evolution of a famous family of great wines.

Recognised, distinguished and praised for the authenticity of its temperament, Alión today symbolises a universal and forward-looking spirit.

The wine is produced using the Tinto Fino variety. The grapes are harvest by hand in 12-kg boxes and are taken immediately to the winery to the sorting tables. Fermentation takes place in wooden tanks under controlled temperatures until a good polyphenolic structure is obtained which will provide the generous colour and firm structure that makes up part of the personality of this wine; and finally the ageing of between 12 and 14 months, depending on the characteristics of the vintage, is performed in full in new French oak Bordeaux barrels. These barrels, from the leading Bordeaux firms, are a significant investment in oak as, harvest after harvest, all the wine that is produced in Alión will be aged in new barrels that, after the wine is decanted to be a bottle, will not be used again by the winery.

Once the wine is removed from the barrels, it will remain no less than 15 months in the stillness of the bottle, where it will end up assembling all the primary aromas of the fruit with the hues from its delicate ageing, resulting in an intense, complex and fleshy wine, but where the elegance is a distinguishing feature and hallmark of the winery.

Alión is the result of a careful selection of terroirs located in the best areas of DO Ribera del Duero. Soils that complement each other and the same viticultural practices used at Vega Sicilia produce wines with a firm structure.

The 2020 vintage was drier than others right up to the harvest. The grapes were very healthy, but the heavy rains in September marked the vintage and diluted the fruit. We had to wait for the grapes to re-concentrate before harvesting, but the resulting wines were more vertical, balanced and fresh. We were able to extract more because the skins were highly polymerised, allowing us to increase the proportion of American oak by 4%.

The use of concrete helped us to improve the verticality and freshness of the wines.

Covid made 2020 a challenging vintage, but the wines are delicate, deep and spicy. This Alión stands out for its elegance and finesse.