A pure Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) wine from vineyards adjacent the Bodega Alion wineworks and from mother company Vega Sicilia's own estate properties at Valbuena. Alion is crafted in the modern Bordeaux cru classe style, using up to date equipment and lots of new French oak.
Bodega Alion caused quite a stir when it was inaugurally released. Aficionados of the mother winery Vega Sicilia's established style rejected the more modern, newly oaked, wider Ribera Del Duero delineation of Alion. It has since become a regional classic. Vines are planted to chalk dominated, minerals rich topsoils over water retaining schist bedrocks, the same structures found under the finest Port vineyards further down the Duero. Fruit is treated to a traditional vinification and malolactic in steel vats. The following January, Alion is transfered to a selection of new French Nevers oak barrels for a year's maturation and a further twelve months ageing in bottle under the estate cellars.
Bright deep red colour with streaks of violet. Full and elegant nose, a wide range of aromas, vanilla, ripe fruits, syrup and compotes. Good intensity of spicy, gamey fruit, showing chocolate, red and black berries plus a note of soy sauce. The palate is opulent and elegant with harmonious tannins providing a subtle backbone. Great aromatic persistence in the mouth, the tannins will support at least ten years ageing.
