En Primeur in Bond per 6x75cl
"Luis Gutiérrez 94/100
The 2017 Alión, the only wine produced here, comes from a challenging year marked by spring frost and a warm and dry end of the season, so they reduced the amount of new oak by 8%. It fermented with indigenous yeasts, and 10% of the volume aged in concrete, completely unoaked. The change in the oak regimen helped with the style of the vintage, which was marked by the frost that hit part of the Alión vineyards. Furthermore, the end of the season was warm and dry, and they had to work to control ripeness and power and perhaps the possibility of more aggressive tannins. It's a classical Alión, with some developed aromas, juicy and round but not heavy, with just a tad of earthy rusticity. With time, it develops more balsamic notes and hints of licorice. 230,032 bottles, 7,04 magnums, 614 double magnums and a handful of bigger sizes were produced. It was bottled in June 2019. Robertparker.com"
Valbuena is the purest expression of red wine at Vega Sicilia and is aged over five winters in barrel then bottle, hence the name of the end product: Valbuena 5º. The crucial first year of ageing takes place in barrel, with 75% French oak and 25% American oak. In this first stage, the aim is to amplify the wine’s structure, sense of sweetness and density. The second year of ageing takes place in large wooden vats and, during this stage, it gains elegance, complexity, tension and subtlety.
