2015 Bodega Alión Ribera del Duero, Castilla y Leon

Alión, of outstanding personality, is aged in new French oak barrels for 12 to 14 months and later bottled until it is ready for drinking. It is, without a doubt, the most universal wine of the family.

The wineis  intense, complex, full-bodied, where elegance plays a differentiating role being the winery´s sign of identity. Its modern, genuine and multicultural character makes it easy to pair.

Produced with 100% Tinto Fino or Tempranillo grapes in a modern and fruit-forward style with generous oak, the 2015 Alión is juicy and intense, cropped from a warm and dry year that delivered a 15% alcohol red that is voluptuous and hedonistic. It matured for 12 to 14 months in oak barrels, mostly French and mostly new. At first I found it quite ripe, with black rather than red fruit, a little earthy and with a touch of licorice and ink. The palate reveals abundant, slightly dusty tannins without the quality they had in 2014; it's a little dry on the finish, a riper and more powerful vintage of Alión. The nose improved tremendously with time in the glass as it opened up, but the tannins remained quite present. It might need a little more time in bottle to polish those edges. 230,730 bottles and some larger formats where produced. It was bottled in June 2017.