A vertical tasting of Alion - a very special breakfast
A tasting of the fabulous wines of Alion - one of those in the Vega Sicilia stable - from the very first vintage in 1991, all the way up to 2003. By Kate
A tasting of the fabulous wines of Alion - one of those in the Vega Sicilia stable - from the very first vintage in 1991, all the way up to 2003. Vega Sicilia Alion Tasting – 21 March 2007-03-21
Wedsnesday 21st March – not really over jet lag and as I returned to two late nights at Green & Blue followed by early mornings, by today I was feeling decidedly otherworldly. Jude and I somehow made it to Queens Park tube in the very early morning (relative to the time we retired the night before) only to be confronted with severe delays on the Bakerloo line – a signal failure somewhere.
We got on a tube which predictably crawled along, stopping for long ages at each station as the minutes ticked steadily by. If I did not love the wines of Vega Sicilia as deeply as I do, I would have suggested giving up and going home. Or going out for breakfast. Going anywhere basically but on this slow crawl into the West End.
I do love these wines very much though. Many years ago, I was asked by Willie Lebus of Bibendum wines to be part of a charity auction which involved tables of city people and their clients ‘bidding’ for various wine experts who they would ‘buy’ to join their table in order to help them win a blind tasting competition. I was in a line-up with a few other sommeliers and prominent wine journalists (Jane Mcquitty and Tim Atkin were there) and as the most obviously junior member of the group, the disappointment of the team that got me was palpable. This deepened considerably as we proceeded to get everything wrong, my input being of precisely no use what so ever. Turns out that city types are very competitive and do not take kindly at all to losing at what was billed as a ‘fun’ and ‘light hearted’ competition.
Needless to say, it was not much fun for me either as a result but it all became completely worth it afterwards when Willie, his very lovely wife Venetia and one other person who I simply don’t remember at all apart from the fact of there being another body present went out to the Blueprint Café for dinner afterwards; Willie bearing a few bottles from his cellar.
One of those was a 1964 Vega Sicilia Unico and it is safe to say that at the time, it was undoubtedly the most amazing liquid I had ever had in my mouth. It tasted fresh and ancient at the same time and, like all great bottles I have ever drunk, some how bursting with life. Black fruits and spice vied with a warm, animal edge – it was conversation stoppingly good and I have never forgotten it.
I have since had bottles of Unico which were good but not mind blowingly so and I have had those which were utterly lovely, although nothing has come close to the ’64. Mind you, none of the examples tasted since have been even close to it in age, which does make all the difference with this wine. I do think that it is undoubtedly one of the great wines of the world and the other wines made by Vega are all amazingly lovely as well – if not quite as breathtaking as Unico. But then, neither are the prices, which must always be borne in mind.
Today was a tasting of all of the vintages of Alion, since it was first made in the 90’s. There are those which are great and those which are not so good but Vega Sicilia are not ashamed of any of them and feel that the wines are at least true to the vintages which gave birth to them, not having been excessively manipulated in the winery in an attempt to correct any short comings of a particular year. 1997 and 1993 were very difficult, but then, not all your children are going to be engineers, as Pablo Alvarez pointed out. The Alvarez family have owned Vega since 1982 and are justifiably proud of their fabulous wines. Pablo was on hand today to present the wines, together with Javier Ausas- wine maker of Vega, Alion and Pintia and Puri Mancebo- Export manager for the wines.
Some interesting and important facts about Alion
Alion has only been made since the early 90’s and is 100% Tempranillo, unlike Unico and Valbuena which both have other varieties in the blend as well. Alion is grown on different soil types to the former two but is also from the Ribera del Duero region – unlike their even newer wine, Pintia, which hails from Toro.
The Alion vineyards are all orientated to the north, so the grapes reach maturity much slower than those facing south and have much higher acidity and lower ph. These two factors are known as the ‘passport to eternity’. They need to work a lot in the vineyard but feel that the results more than pay off.
Grapes grown on slopes orientated to the South are much more explosive and powerful in youth but they find that while theirs are slow to develop in youth, they are unstoppable once they begin to.
For Alion, they do 100% new oak every year but they want it to be a compliment to the wine, not a main player. If any of the component parts of the wine are rejected as not being quite good enough, 90% of the time, it is just after vinification, so they try to avoid putting wine which is substandard into barrels.
They use Nevere oak. Before starting a project, they always do a lot of experimentation and try not to be influenced by what has been done in the region by others, preferring instead to find their own way. They tried Nevere, Allier, Vosges, American and Hungarian oak and although they continue to experiment – this year, they have one parcel in 18 different barrels – they have found that on the whole, Nevere has a less fine grain than Allier which gives more texture on the palate. There is an imperfection which is interesting – it is not as round and smooth as Allier but they quite like this. The rounding, smoothing process happens later, in bottle.
2003
A very hot that year – extremely so. Harvest in 03 year started on 17th Sept which is quite advanced. The main objective was to try to avoid over ripe aromas – they did not want a wine that was too heavy but were still hoping to achieve elegance.
Very rich, almost slightly jammy nose. Balanced acidity and very ripe tannins with very sweet plum and red cherry underpinned with rich buttery oak. Spiced butter comes out further towards the back and the fruit is slightly less jammy on the finish although it is quite hot.
Not convinced by this one. Probably a damn sight less cooked than it could have been, but I still don’t find this particularly pleasurable to drink – slightly clumsy and lacking verve, like so much from this vintage all over Europe.
A note after having tasted some of the older vintages – if anyone can pull of a wine from a difficult vintage that does hold on despite evidence to the contrary in youth, then they can. I may therefore be proved completely wrong about the ability of this wine to age in the medium term.
They are however happy with this and feel it has good evolution in bottle. Perhaps the spiced butter of the oak will melt and integrate even more over time but I really don’t know that it has the freshness to hold on till that happens. Apparently, this vintage has been very popular in Spain where the market really likes big, bold, very ripe and fruity reds.
2002
Another difficult vintage. It was very important to have done a lot of work in the vineyard in order make good wine in 02 – a year of the viticulturist. Spain is seen as a very sunny place but in Ribera del Duero the weather can be very extreme. It is at 750m altitude so the climate is continental and all the bad things happen here - spring frosts, hail during the growth cycle in June and frequently, bad weather during the final ripening so vineyards need to be prepared for the worst. 2002 was an example of a bad finish. There was a real lack of sunlight towards the end of maturity so 30% of the fruit was sacrificed in a green harvest. (Which is when whole bunches of fruit are discarded in order to direct the vines energy to ripening those that remain). They do not spray vineyards, preferring instead to work manually to treat infections
Very closed on nose. They describe the palate as ‘nervous’. I am about to find out. Balanced but high acidity, structured but integrated tannins, slightly sharp red and black fruit with some liquorices and creamy coffee. Lovely length and mocha finish with a final dollop of butter. The complexity is still very young and locked in but the length and integration on the palate suggest this will develop and blossom beautifully.
They believe this will age and I agree – should be really lovely in about 10 years,
2001
This year saw May spring frost. The vines already had 10cm worth of spring growth which meant disaster - the frost killed everything including the first buds. This happened all over Ribera del Duero. Not therefore a great vintage for wines like Unico – you really can’t make properly ripe wines with the ‘second generation’ of grapes in a vintage. However, this turned out to be quite a good vintage for Alion or Valbuena (both ‘second wines’ of Vega) - wines meant to be drunk younger. For those generally built for the long haul though, it was a bit of a disaster.
22hl/hc is the average yield for Alion but in 2001 it was 7hl/hc – about 1000kg/hectare.
Something very slightly floral on nose – certainly a lightness of touch not seen in the previous two vintages. Crisp but balanced acidity, very structured tannins which are still balanced, much more muted fruit than the previous vintages – some red cherry with some spiced butter, but still very young and closed. Good mid-palate development – liquorices and coffee and a lovely, lingeringly fresh finish. This does not have the fruit intensity I would expect from such a low yielding year – probably because it was a second crop? – but it really does have lovely elegance and fabulous length – bodes well.
2000
This year was the biggest ever harvest for this wine. 44 – 50% of the fruit eliminated in the vineyard and they still had more than enough. It is an interesting fact to note that vines are good mothers – they will never ‘drop’ a bunch because they do not have the reserves to ripen it properly, so the choice has to be forced upon them, as it were.
316,0000 bottle production in 2000.
2000 was an excellent vintage in both quantity and quality – one of those years of perfection that come along every so often. Although the team at Vega believe that it is in a weak vintage that a winery proves what it is capable of, it certainly is a pleasure to taste the wines of a fine vintage from a house that really know what they are doing.
They feel that everyone has to decide when they prefer Alion – young and fresh, with some signs of ageing or with real bottle maturity. Personally, I think I like it at every stage but most especially with maturity.
Lovely glossy, relatively fragrant nose. Crisp acidity, structured but very velvety tannins, beautifully fragrant red and black fruit with sweet spice, molasses/liquorices and more soft spice. Gorgeous complexity here with really lovely length and a crackingly fresh fruit/coffee/spice finish.
This is delicious – still not nearly fully mature but already drinking beautifully although will get even better. Highly recommended.
1999
99 was another difficult vintage. Harvest started on 10th October and had to stop on the 12th. Between 12th and 26th, there was 100ml of rain. There was much dropping of bunches and leaf stripping to aerate the grapes in order to prevent botrytis without recourse to sprays. Harvest then re-started on the 1st of November and finished the 14th. Very hard, after backbreaking work in the vineyard during the year, to have to cope with this at harvest, but it is an example of the challenges of Ribera.
Red fruit and liquorices with the same quite fragrant character as seen in 2001 on nose. Very crisp acidity, very structured tannins with red fruit that has shrunk away from the bones somewhat, leaving a strong spiced liquorices flavour. Good length though and lovely fragrant finish.
This obviously shows the vintage character in the leaner fruit character but think it is also at a tricky stage in its development. Not bad, but rather aggressive and not drinking beautifully at the moment.
All the wines on the first flight were fermented in wooden vats – from 2000 onwards. Before this, all Alion was fermented in Stainless steel. They believe that Alion and Valbuena have to evolve in style. They think there is a difference between evolution and change – they want their wines to evolve, but not change. The intrinsic style of the wine must remain the same. Against all the fashionable trends at the time, Alion evolved towards elegance, not power. One of the results of this wooden fermentation is a more voluptuous palate which is actually very obvious in a line up like this and one of the great privileges of being able to taste them all together.
1998
98 was another difficult vintage like 2002 with a bad finish and potentially, lots of unripe fruit, so the main aim for them here was to avoid excessively green aromas.
Richer, plummier, darker notes but slightly closed nose. Crisp acidit, structured tannins, reticent fruit rather oak dominated on the palate but towards the back, some glossy cherry appears. The length is fabulous again with softer, richer spice and fruit (some of which is taking on a slightly stewed character – not a bad thing) towards the back with a final burst of liquorices and fruit on the finish.
1997
They want to forget this vintage –the worst they ever produced. Only just over 100,000 bottles – 40% of usual production. They had lack of maturity, botrytis, a very cold cycle from beginning to end, high rainfall at harvest.
Not much intensity on the nose. Balanced acidity, very structured tannins, somewhat lacking sufficient flesh to amply cover. The fruit that is much more baked and dried than fresh with quite a lot of underlying richer sweet spice which seems to come out even more towards the finish. This is far from terrible wine – it is a much more reticent style but it has an elegance and again great length.
1996
The 1996 was a great vintage – the shining, happy face of Ribera. This is a wine for very long ageing. Drink 97 and set aside the 96.
Dense black and red cherry nose – still amazingly youthful. Crisp but very balanced acidity, structured but perfectly integrated tannins with glossy, still very young fruit underpinned with a truly marvellous streak of sweet spice which shoots all the way down the palate to a coffee/spice/sweet hay finish This wine has got it going on and it is still fresh as a daisy and incredibly young. I would not really want to drink this for another 5 -10 years at least.
This is really lovely wine – complex, dense and perfectly balanced.
1995
95 was similar to 2001 but not as extreme. Also spring frost, but the damage was not as destructive. There were 15 days less in the growth cycle because the ripening was so very accelerated. – 5.5 or 6 months while a normal harvest is done in 7 months. Very different style to 94 and 96 which are very concentrated vintages - this one is much leaner.
For the first time – real development on the nose here, giving some idea of the longevity of these wines. Sweet, fresh red cherry but also layers of cherry compote and hints of dried flowers and of course, sweet spice. Balanced acidity, structured but very integrated tannins, fresh red fruit but also some dried and stewed with a lovely sweet spice edge. Good length and a lovely gently spicy, stewed fruit finish.
Lovely gentle wine – does not have anything like the power of some of them but is not any worse off for it – just different.
1994
A great vintage – like 96, 00 and 04. An easy harvest at end September. This vintage is currently in a slightly reductive stage. They release wines when they have got over their first initial difficult phase after bottling – generally, after 6 months to 1 year there will be a bit of reduction. This then comes along again later on its its evolution and 1994 while 1996 is just entering it. This is especially prevalent in concentrated years and it is a good thing as it is a way of the wine protecting itself and it suggests it will age for a long time.
Dense red and black cherry nose. Balanced acidity, structured tannins, closed, dense fruit with the oak quite obvious but still very integrated. Dense red and black fruit (I have to admit that I don’t pick up reduction on this although it is very closed), giving absolutely nothing away at the moment, with a great spicy, liquorices finish.
Not at all forthcoming at the moment but undoubtedly still has very many years ahead of it.
1993
Also catastrophic, but not quite as bad as 97. Again, lots of work was required in the vineyard.
This wine is about aroma – not structure – and is not for long ageing.
Beautifully aromatic, cigar box nose. Balanced acidity and very fine tannins. Something really slightly unripe but not unpleasantly so – capsicum and cigar box with underlying richer spice. Great length and elegant finish with hints of chocolate and coffee.
Soft, elegant and quite lovely although I think that this is as good as it gets with this vintage.
1992
Forgotten vintage – 1990 got all the attention – but 89, 91 and 92 should be focused on more as the 90 is actually evolving quicker.
Fragrant red fruit and spice nose. Crisp acidity, structured but integrated tannins, very lovely fragrant red fruit with strong cigar box character again and delicious dried red cherry and spice towards the back. Another very elegant vintage with lovely gentle complexity and thrilling buttered fruit and spice finish. This still has a freshness about it, despite the development. Delicious to drink now but still has some time left.
1991
The very first vintage of Alion, so all the grapes were bought in. Very interestingly, it obviously lacks the elegance that they mentioned they were striving for in their fruit earlier.
Much denser, more concentrated fruit on nose – hints of prune and cigar box. Balanced acidity with structured but very velvet tannins. Dense, prune and chocolate – good but definitely clumsier than what followed.
Would not go out of my way to drink this – certainly wouldn’t be utterly depressed if offered a glass, but it lacks sparkle.
Lack of sleep and lack of breakfast starting to tell on me. Things all getting a bit hazy now, so forgive the notes to come.
New Releases
The tasting then moved on to focus on other Vega Sicilia wines. The company is now a group of wineries after a very aggressive expansion policy in the 90’s – Alion was added from 1991; Oremus in Tokaji, Hungary from 1993 and Pintia in Toro from 1997.
2004 Mandolas Dry Furmint Oremus, Tokaji
Dry Furmint in Tokaji is a very traditional style but is usually not taken very seriously – the very sweet versions getting all the attention. This example is barrel fermented in Hungarian oak with6 months of battonage and a year in bottle before release.
Lovely citrus and floral nose. Good acidity, medium body with citrus, spiced honey and lemon blossom, the cream from the oak coming out towards the back. Great length and a lovely fresh grapefruit finish.
Jude and I love this wine so will definitely be selling this at some point this summer.
2004 Pintia
Vega bought vineyards of 40 – 50 year old vines of Tinta del Toro – a different clone of Tempranillo – in the Toro region in the late ‘90’s. This is a Pre-phylloxera region – the pest never having arrived – it has sandy soils and is very isolated which help enormously. 50% of their vines are currently ungrafted and 50% grafted.
Wines from Ribera del Duero are born elegant, while those from Toro are born rustic – in this region, you have to take the bull by the horns. The very terrior is rustic - Very rustic – big stones in the vineyards with much hotter temperatures than in Ribera because of the lower altitude. These factors mean that this wine is a devastating 15% alcohol but it certainly does not taste like it is.
They really want to avoid over ripe aromas here so keep grapes at 4 – 5 degrees celcius overnight before crushing them. They also do a cool pre-fermentation maceration at 7 – 8 degrees celcius and never let temperatures during fermentation get beyond 28 degrees - they want fruit and not alcohol.
The aim is to make an elegant wine from a rustic region – it took 6 years to release the wine, as before the 2001 vintage, they felt the wines they had made were experiments. They were the first to invest in the region and the last to release – explicit proof, if any were needed, of their dedication to quality wine making. 04 was a very good vintage for Pintia – better than the preceding. They feel that 05 is not quite as good.
I seem to have accidentally deleted my tasting note for the 04 Pintia – easily done on this stupidly small laptop, but it was lovely. We stock it the wine in our Even Finer section at the shop, so look at the notes on the web site if you want.
2002 Valbuena
80 % Tempranillo, 20% Merlot and Malbec.
A difficult vintage again - one third less of normal production.
If Unico is not released, a proportion of the grapes go to Valbuena.
This is not a second wine – it is supposed to be a different style, released at 5 years and Unico at 10. Valbuena is fermented in big oak wooden vats, and aged in new and old French and American, with final blend being done right at the end. Valbuena spends about 3 years in wood and Unico 7, with Valbuena then being 2 years in bottle and Unico 3.
Still very youthful fruit on nose. Crisp but balanced acidity, still very young and dense – real complexity is stil locked in but there is already excellent balance, length and finish. This wine is far too young to even think about drinking and is not showing even a fraction of what it is capable of. My notes are also slightly curtailed to be honest as Jude – claming he does not really like this at the moment – tasted the rest of my glass before I had finished. He is consequently in disgrace.
1996 Unico
80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.
1996 was best vintage of the 90’s for Unico. Some vintages get to the personality of Unico in 6 or 7 years and some in 10 years. It is never precise but always they are aiming for the Unico personality which must be respected.
None is sold en primeur. Alion and Vega are 10kms from each other with the terrioir of Alion being lower sites on stony, more rolling slopes while with Valbuena and Unico it is the northern slopes of the hills, mainly clay with chalk so the fruit shows more power and structure. Extensive soil research was done in 1998 – and they found that they have 19 different soil types in the latter vineyards, which adds to the complexity in Valbuena and Unico. Alion has less.
Fruit still closed on the nose but an aromatic spice coming through. Crisp acidity and amazingly structured but perfectly integrated tannins. Densely powerful fruit full of promise and texture with dark chocolate spice and intense liquorice. This gives no hint of how long it spent it barrel – the fruit is fresh and the spice is lively with not a single hint of oxidation. If this wine is feminine, which they claim – and I agree that it is – than it is a very strong, very independent woman who does not suffer fools gladly I love her very much.
They feel that there are 2 styles of this wine – one is more feminine and aromatic and the other is more masculine. Always it is mainly feminine but some time it is more structured than others.
This was a phenomenally wonderful tasting with really not a single bad wine. There were those which were definitely less good – 2003 Alion probably being my least favourite on the whole – but if you are as careful about how you grow your grapes as Vega are, then this pays off handsomely in ensuring something worth drinking is always produced even in a difficult vintage.
So, after having walked in feeling like death and really not up to much tasting, I left feeling entirely invigorated and inspired – such is the power of really good wine. If only breakfast could be quite this wonderful more often. We celebrated this particularly lovely version with sandwiches at Pret a Manger on Piccadilly and discussed how much we would enjoying selling the 1996 Unico as soon as it came in – watch this space.
A tasting of the fabulous wines of Alion - one of those in the Vega Sicilia stable - from the very first vintage in 1991, all the way up to 2003. Vega Sicilia Alion Tasting – 21 March 2007-03-21
Wedsnesday 21st March – not really over jet lag and as I returned to two late nights at Green & Blue followed by early mornings, by today I was feeling decidedly otherworldly. Jude and I somehow made it to Queens Park tube in the very early morning (relative to the time we retired the night before) only to be confronted with severe delays on the Bakerloo line – a signal failure somewhere.
We got on a tube which predictably crawled along, stopping for long ages at each station as the minutes ticked steadily by. If I did not love the wines of Vega Sicilia as deeply as I do, I would have suggested giving up and going home. Or going out for breakfast. Going anywhere basically but on this slow crawl into the West End.
I do love these wines very much though. Many years ago, I was asked by Willie Lebus of Bibendum wines to be part of a charity auction which involved tables of city people and their clients ‘bidding’ for various wine experts who they would ‘buy’ to join their table in order to help them win a blind tasting competition. I was in a line-up with a few other sommeliers and prominent wine journalists (Jane Mcquitty and Tim Atkin were there) and as the most obviously junior member of the group, the disappointment of the team that got me was palpable. This deepened considerably as we proceeded to get everything wrong, my input being of precisely no use what so ever. Turns out that city types are very competitive and do not take kindly at all to losing at what was billed as a ‘fun’ and ‘light hearted’ competition.
Needless to say, it was not much fun for me either as a result but it all became completely worth it afterwards when Willie, his very lovely wife Venetia and one other person who I simply don’t remember at all apart from the fact of there being another body present went out to the Blueprint Café for dinner afterwards; Willie bearing a few bottles from his cellar.
One of those was a 1964 Vega Sicilia Unico and it is safe to say that at the time, it was undoubtedly the most amazing liquid I had ever had in my mouth. It tasted fresh and ancient at the same time and, like all great bottles I have ever drunk, some how bursting with life. Black fruits and spice vied with a warm, animal edge – it was conversation stoppingly good and I have never forgotten it.
I have since had bottles of Unico which were good but not mind blowingly so and I have had those which were utterly lovely, although nothing has come close to the ’64. Mind you, none of the examples tasted since have been even close to it in age, which does make all the difference with this wine. I do think that it is undoubtedly one of the great wines of the world and the other wines made by Vega are all amazingly lovely as well – if not quite as breathtaking as Unico. But then, neither are the prices, which must always be borne in mind.
Today was a tasting of all of the vintages of Alion, since it was first made in the 90’s. There are those which are great and those which are not so good but Vega Sicilia are not ashamed of any of them and feel that the wines are at least true to the vintages which gave birth to them, not having been excessively manipulated in the winery in an attempt to correct any short comings of a particular year. 1997 and 1993 were very difficult, but then, not all your children are going to be engineers, as Pablo Alvarez pointed out. The Alvarez family have owned Vega since 1982 and are justifiably proud of their fabulous wines. Pablo was on hand today to present the wines, together with Javier Ausas- wine maker of Vega, Alion and Pintia and Puri Mancebo- Export manager for the wines.
Some interesting and important facts about Alion
Alion has only been made since the early 90’s and is 100% Tempranillo, unlike Unico and Valbuena which both have other varieties in the blend as well. Alion is grown on different soil types to the former two but is also from the Ribera del Duero region – unlike their even newer wine, Pintia, which hails from Toro.
The Alion vineyards are all orientated to the north, so the grapes reach maturity much slower than those facing south and have much higher acidity and lower ph. These two factors are known as the ‘passport to eternity’. They need to work a lot in the vineyard but feel that the results more than pay off.
Grapes grown on slopes orientated to the South are much more explosive and powerful in youth but they find that while theirs are slow to develop in youth, they are unstoppable once they begin to.
For Alion, they do 100% new oak every year but they want it to be a compliment to the wine, not a main player. If any of the component parts of the wine are rejected as not being quite good enough, 90% of the time, it is just after vinification, so they try to avoid putting wine which is substandard into barrels.
They use Nevere oak. Before starting a project, they always do a lot of experimentation and try not to be influenced by what has been done in the region by others, preferring instead to find their own way. They tried Nevere, Allier, Vosges, American and Hungarian oak and although they continue to experiment – this year, they have one parcel in 18 different barrels – they have found that on the whole, Nevere has a less fine grain than Allier which gives more texture on the palate. There is an imperfection which is interesting – it is not as round and smooth as Allier but they quite like this. The rounding, smoothing process happens later, in bottle.
2003
A very hot that year – extremely so. Harvest in 03 year started on 17th Sept which is quite advanced. The main objective was to try to avoid over ripe aromas – they did not want a wine that was too heavy but were still hoping to achieve elegance.
Very rich, almost slightly jammy nose. Balanced acidity and very ripe tannins with very sweet plum and red cherry underpinned with rich buttery oak. Spiced butter comes out further towards the back and the fruit is slightly less jammy on the finish although it is quite hot.
Not convinced by this one. Probably a damn sight less cooked than it could have been, but I still don’t find this particularly pleasurable to drink – slightly clumsy and lacking verve, like so much from this vintage all over Europe.
A note after having tasted some of the older vintages – if anyone can pull of a wine from a difficult vintage that does hold on despite evidence to the contrary in youth, then they can. I may therefore be proved completely wrong about the ability of this wine to age in the medium term.
They are however happy with this and feel it has good evolution in bottle. Perhaps the spiced butter of the oak will melt and integrate even more over time but I really don’t know that it has the freshness to hold on till that happens. Apparently, this vintage has been very popular in Spain where the market really likes big, bold, very ripe and fruity reds.
2002
Another difficult vintage. It was very important to have done a lot of work in the vineyard in order make good wine in 02 – a year of the viticulturist. Spain is seen as a very sunny place but in Ribera del Duero the weather can be very extreme. It is at 750m altitude so the climate is continental and all the bad things happen here - spring frosts, hail during the growth cycle in June and frequently, bad weather during the final ripening so vineyards need to be prepared for the worst. 2002 was an example of a bad finish. There was a real lack of sunlight towards the end of maturity so 30% of the fruit was sacrificed in a green harvest. (Which is when whole bunches of fruit are discarded in order to direct the vines energy to ripening those that remain). They do not spray vineyards, preferring instead to work manually to treat infections
Very closed on nose. They describe the palate as ‘nervous’. I am about to find out. Balanced but high acidity, structured but integrated tannins, slightly sharp red and black fruit with some liquorices and creamy coffee. Lovely length and mocha finish with a final dollop of butter. The complexity is still very young and locked in but the length and integration on the palate suggest this will develop and blossom beautifully.
They believe this will age and I agree – should be really lovely in about 10 years,
2001
This year saw May spring frost. The vines already had 10cm worth of spring growth which meant disaster - the frost killed everything including the first buds. This happened all over Ribera del Duero. Not therefore a great vintage for wines like Unico – you really can’t make properly ripe wines with the ‘second generation’ of grapes in a vintage. However, this turned out to be quite a good vintage for Alion or Valbuena (both ‘second wines’ of Vega) - wines meant to be drunk younger. For those generally built for the long haul though, it was a bit of a disaster.
22hl/hc is the average yield for Alion but in 2001 it was 7hl/hc – about 1000kg/hectare.
Something very slightly floral on nose – certainly a lightness of touch not seen in the previous two vintages. Crisp but balanced acidity, very structured tannins which are still balanced, much more muted fruit than the previous vintages – some red cherry with some spiced butter, but still very young and closed. Good mid-palate development – liquorices and coffee and a lovely, lingeringly fresh finish. This does not have the fruit intensity I would expect from such a low yielding year – probably because it was a second crop? – but it really does have lovely elegance and fabulous length – bodes well.
2000
This year was the biggest ever harvest for this wine. 44 – 50% of the fruit eliminated in the vineyard and they still had more than enough. It is an interesting fact to note that vines are good mothers – they will never ‘drop’ a bunch because they do not have the reserves to ripen it properly, so the choice has to be forced upon them, as it were.
316,0000 bottle production in 2000.
2000 was an excellent vintage in both quantity and quality – one of those years of perfection that come along every so often. Although the team at Vega believe that it is in a weak vintage that a winery proves what it is capable of, it certainly is a pleasure to taste the wines of a fine vintage from a house that really know what they are doing.
They feel that everyone has to decide when they prefer Alion – young and fresh, with some signs of ageing or with real bottle maturity. Personally, I think I like it at every stage but most especially with maturity.
Lovely glossy, relatively fragrant nose. Crisp acidity, structured but very velvety tannins, beautifully fragrant red and black fruit with sweet spice, molasses/liquorices and more soft spice. Gorgeous complexity here with really lovely length and a crackingly fresh fruit/coffee/spice finish.
This is delicious – still not nearly fully mature but already drinking beautifully although will get even better. Highly recommended.
1999
99 was another difficult vintage. Harvest started on 10th October and had to stop on the 12th. Between 12th and 26th, there was 100ml of rain. There was much dropping of bunches and leaf stripping to aerate the grapes in order to prevent botrytis without recourse to sprays. Harvest then re-started on the 1st of November and finished the 14th. Very hard, after backbreaking work in the vineyard during the year, to have to cope with this at harvest, but it is an example of the challenges of Ribera.
Red fruit and liquorices with the same quite fragrant character as seen in 2001 on nose. Very crisp acidity, very structured tannins with red fruit that has shrunk away from the bones somewhat, leaving a strong spiced liquorices flavour. Good length though and lovely fragrant finish.
This obviously shows the vintage character in the leaner fruit character but think it is also at a tricky stage in its development. Not bad, but rather aggressive and not drinking beautifully at the moment.
All the wines on the first flight were fermented in wooden vats – from 2000 onwards. Before this, all Alion was fermented in Stainless steel. They believe that Alion and Valbuena have to evolve in style. They think there is a difference between evolution and change – they want their wines to evolve, but not change. The intrinsic style of the wine must remain the same. Against all the fashionable trends at the time, Alion evolved towards elegance, not power. One of the results of this wooden fermentation is a more voluptuous palate which is actually very obvious in a line up like this and one of the great privileges of being able to taste them all together.
1998
98 was another difficult vintage like 2002 with a bad finish and potentially, lots of unripe fruit, so the main aim for them here was to avoid excessively green aromas.
Richer, plummier, darker notes but slightly closed nose. Crisp acidit, structured tannins, reticent fruit rather oak dominated on the palate but towards the back, some glossy cherry appears. The length is fabulous again with softer, richer spice and fruit (some of which is taking on a slightly stewed character – not a bad thing) towards the back with a final burst of liquorices and fruit on the finish.
1997
They want to forget this vintage –the worst they ever produced. Only just over 100,000 bottles – 40% of usual production. They had lack of maturity, botrytis, a very cold cycle from beginning to end, high rainfall at harvest.
Not much intensity on the nose. Balanced acidity, very structured tannins, somewhat lacking sufficient flesh to amply cover. The fruit that is much more baked and dried than fresh with quite a lot of underlying richer sweet spice which seems to come out even more towards the finish. This is far from terrible wine – it is a much more reticent style but it has an elegance and again great length.
1996
The 1996 was a great vintage – the shining, happy face of Ribera. This is a wine for very long ageing. Drink 97 and set aside the 96.
Dense black and red cherry nose – still amazingly youthful. Crisp but very balanced acidity, structured but perfectly integrated tannins with glossy, still very young fruit underpinned with a truly marvellous streak of sweet spice which shoots all the way down the palate to a coffee/spice/sweet hay finish This wine has got it going on and it is still fresh as a daisy and incredibly young. I would not really want to drink this for another 5 -10 years at least.
This is really lovely wine – complex, dense and perfectly balanced.
1995
95 was similar to 2001 but not as extreme. Also spring frost, but the damage was not as destructive. There were 15 days less in the growth cycle because the ripening was so very accelerated. – 5.5 or 6 months while a normal harvest is done in 7 months. Very different style to 94 and 96 which are very concentrated vintages - this one is much leaner.
For the first time – real development on the nose here, giving some idea of the longevity of these wines. Sweet, fresh red cherry but also layers of cherry compote and hints of dried flowers and of course, sweet spice. Balanced acidity, structured but very integrated tannins, fresh red fruit but also some dried and stewed with a lovely sweet spice edge. Good length and a lovely gently spicy, stewed fruit finish.
Lovely gentle wine – does not have anything like the power of some of them but is not any worse off for it – just different.
1994
A great vintage – like 96, 00 and 04. An easy harvest at end September. This vintage is currently in a slightly reductive stage. They release wines when they have got over their first initial difficult phase after bottling – generally, after 6 months to 1 year there will be a bit of reduction. This then comes along again later on its its evolution and 1994 while 1996 is just entering it. This is especially prevalent in concentrated years and it is a good thing as it is a way of the wine protecting itself and it suggests it will age for a long time.
Dense red and black cherry nose. Balanced acidity, structured tannins, closed, dense fruit with the oak quite obvious but still very integrated. Dense red and black fruit (I have to admit that I don’t pick up reduction on this although it is very closed), giving absolutely nothing away at the moment, with a great spicy, liquorices finish.
Not at all forthcoming at the moment but undoubtedly still has very many years ahead of it.
1993
Also catastrophic, but not quite as bad as 97. Again, lots of work was required in the vineyard.
This wine is about aroma – not structure – and is not for long ageing.
Beautifully aromatic, cigar box nose. Balanced acidity and very fine tannins. Something really slightly unripe but not unpleasantly so – capsicum and cigar box with underlying richer spice. Great length and elegant finish with hints of chocolate and coffee.
Soft, elegant and quite lovely although I think that this is as good as it gets with this vintage.
1992
Forgotten vintage – 1990 got all the attention – but 89, 91 and 92 should be focused on more as the 90 is actually evolving quicker.
Fragrant red fruit and spice nose. Crisp acidity, structured but integrated tannins, very lovely fragrant red fruit with strong cigar box character again and delicious dried red cherry and spice towards the back. Another very elegant vintage with lovely gentle complexity and thrilling buttered fruit and spice finish. This still has a freshness about it, despite the development. Delicious to drink now but still has some time left.
1991
The very first vintage of Alion, so all the grapes were bought in. Very interestingly, it obviously lacks the elegance that they mentioned they were striving for in their fruit earlier.
Much denser, more concentrated fruit on nose – hints of prune and cigar box. Balanced acidity with structured but very velvet tannins. Dense, prune and chocolate – good but definitely clumsier than what followed.
Would not go out of my way to drink this – certainly wouldn’t be utterly depressed if offered a glass, but it lacks sparkle.
Lack of sleep and lack of breakfast starting to tell on me. Things all getting a bit hazy now, so forgive the notes to come.
New Releases
The tasting then moved on to focus on other Vega Sicilia wines. The company is now a group of wineries after a very aggressive expansion policy in the 90’s – Alion was added from 1991; Oremus in Tokaji, Hungary from 1993 and Pintia in Toro from 1997.
2004 Mandolas Dry Furmint Oremus, Tokaji
Dry Furmint in Tokaji is a very traditional style but is usually not taken very seriously – the very sweet versions getting all the attention. This example is barrel fermented in Hungarian oak with6 months of battonage and a year in bottle before release.
Lovely citrus and floral nose. Good acidity, medium body with citrus, spiced honey and lemon blossom, the cream from the oak coming out towards the back. Great length and a lovely fresh grapefruit finish.
Jude and I love this wine so will definitely be selling this at some point this summer.
2004 Pintia
Vega bought vineyards of 40 – 50 year old vines of Tinta del Toro – a different clone of Tempranillo – in the Toro region in the late ‘90’s. This is a Pre-phylloxera region – the pest never having arrived – it has sandy soils and is very isolated which help enormously. 50% of their vines are currently ungrafted and 50% grafted.
Wines from Ribera del Duero are born elegant, while those from Toro are born rustic – in this region, you have to take the bull by the horns. The very terrior is rustic - Very rustic – big stones in the vineyards with much hotter temperatures than in Ribera because of the lower altitude. These factors mean that this wine is a devastating 15% alcohol but it certainly does not taste like it is.
They really want to avoid over ripe aromas here so keep grapes at 4 – 5 degrees celcius overnight before crushing them. They also do a cool pre-fermentation maceration at 7 – 8 degrees celcius and never let temperatures during fermentation get beyond 28 degrees - they want fruit and not alcohol.
The aim is to make an elegant wine from a rustic region – it took 6 years to release the wine, as before the 2001 vintage, they felt the wines they had made were experiments. They were the first to invest in the region and the last to release – explicit proof, if any were needed, of their dedication to quality wine making. 04 was a very good vintage for Pintia – better than the preceding. They feel that 05 is not quite as good.
I seem to have accidentally deleted my tasting note for the 04 Pintia – easily done on this stupidly small laptop, but it was lovely. We stock it the wine in our Even Finer section at the shop, so look at the notes on the web site if you want.
2002 Valbuena
80 % Tempranillo, 20% Merlot and Malbec.
A difficult vintage again - one third less of normal production.
If Unico is not released, a proportion of the grapes go to Valbuena.
This is not a second wine – it is supposed to be a different style, released at 5 years and Unico at 10. Valbuena is fermented in big oak wooden vats, and aged in new and old French and American, with final blend being done right at the end. Valbuena spends about 3 years in wood and Unico 7, with Valbuena then being 2 years in bottle and Unico 3.
Still very youthful fruit on nose. Crisp but balanced acidity, still very young and dense – real complexity is stil locked in but there is already excellent balance, length and finish. This wine is far too young to even think about drinking and is not showing even a fraction of what it is capable of. My notes are also slightly curtailed to be honest as Jude – claming he does not really like this at the moment – tasted the rest of my glass before I had finished. He is consequently in disgrace.
1996 Unico
80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.
1996 was best vintage of the 90’s for Unico. Some vintages get to the personality of Unico in 6 or 7 years and some in 10 years. It is never precise but always they are aiming for the Unico personality which must be respected.
None is sold en primeur. Alion and Vega are 10kms from each other with the terrioir of Alion being lower sites on stony, more rolling slopes while with Valbuena and Unico it is the northern slopes of the hills, mainly clay with chalk so the fruit shows more power and structure. Extensive soil research was done in 1998 – and they found that they have 19 different soil types in the latter vineyards, which adds to the complexity in Valbuena and Unico. Alion has less.
Fruit still closed on the nose but an aromatic spice coming through. Crisp acidity and amazingly structured but perfectly integrated tannins. Densely powerful fruit full of promise and texture with dark chocolate spice and intense liquorice. This gives no hint of how long it spent it barrel – the fruit is fresh and the spice is lively with not a single hint of oxidation. If this wine is feminine, which they claim – and I agree that it is – than it is a very strong, very independent woman who does not suffer fools gladly I love her very much.
They feel that there are 2 styles of this wine – one is more feminine and aromatic and the other is more masculine. Always it is mainly feminine but some time it is more structured than others.
This was a phenomenally wonderful tasting with really not a single bad wine. There were those which were definitely less good – 2003 Alion probably being my least favourite on the whole – but if you are as careful about how you grow your grapes as Vega are, then this pays off handsomely in ensuring something worth drinking is always produced even in a difficult vintage.
So, after having walked in feeling like death and really not up to much tasting, I left feeling entirely invigorated and inspired – such is the power of really good wine. If only breakfast could be quite this wonderful more often. We celebrated this particularly lovely version with sandwiches at Pret a Manger on Piccadilly and discussed how much we would enjoying selling the 1996 Unico as soon as it came in – watch this space.
