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Wine Description
The Story
Alion 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 14 and 20 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 (Radoux, Taranssaud, Saury and Vicard), 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 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.
Vintage 2018
SPAIN VINTAGE REPORT 2018
Wines from Spain has released its 2018 vintage report detailing the performance of each region, with most reporting a return to average yields following a challenging 2017 harvest, which saw widespread drought and heatwaves impact production.
“After several dry, hot vintages this year the rain came to Spain and in some regions the rainy spell lasted until early summer,” the report said. ” It was also a much cooler year with more gradual vine development and one where intense work in the vineyard was often necessary to keep yields in check and vineyard diseases at bay.
“The harvest began later and, with the benefit of fine weather in most of the country, picking took place steadily and well into the autumn. Yields were far more generous than last year and this should leave Spain in a strong competitive position.”
In brief:
– Weather: a cooler year with far more rain; fine harvest weather for most regions.
– Regional highlights: a far better year for Ribera del Duero, Bierzo, most areas of Castilla y
Leén and Valdeorras. Record crops for Campo de Borja and Monterrei and more
generous for Rioja and Carifiena.
– Wine character: fresher wines with moderate alcohol levels and strong varietal character.
Wine of Spain estimates a harvest yield of 48 million hl (source: OEMV), compared with the 36-38 million hl that was reported in 2017.