96pts James Suckling

Fresh and very floral with violets and berries. Blackberries and orange peel, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm, linear tannins. Excellent length and structure. Seriously structured, Better after 2024, but already beautiful.

95pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2018 Alión follows the path of the 2016: it is fresh and elegant and from a cooler (more Atlantic) vintage with more rain than the average and a relatively late harvest between September 28th and October 12th. They used 80% new barrels, with up to 10% made of American oak looking to (in their own words) give more sucrosity and sweetness to the wine, as it's a more vertical, tense and elegant expression of Alión. Part of the wine matured in concrete (something they started in 2016), and in 2021 they are experimenting with a 4,000-liter Rousseau foudre, as they want to keep working the texture and freshness. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has a pH of 3.8 and a mellow 4.6 grams of acidity, round and soft. The wine matured until it was bottled in June 2020. The truth is that the wine comes through as subtle, elegant and balanced, with very integrated oak and a nice texture. It's one of the finest vintages for Alión.

91pts Wine Spectator

A harmonious red, with a core of ripe black plum and cassis fruit layered with fine, creamy tannins. Medium- to full-bodied and plush on the palate, offering pretty violet, dried thyme and mocha accents and an underpinning of loamy earth, which lingers on the sculpted finish. Best from 2023 through 2033. 21,483 cases made, 978 cases imported.

Winemaker Notes

The wine is extremely inviting as a result. The fruit is pure, aromatic and complex, reflecting the varying terroir in this triangle of vineyards between Pesquera del Duero, Padilla and Valbuena. There is spice and weight, but also great length and class. This is a true example of contemporary Ribera made without compromise.