Ribera del Duero 2018

AALTO

Ribera del Duero
2018

Country
Spain
Regulated designation
Denominación de origen calificada (DOC)
Region
Castilla y Leon
Varietal(s)
Tempranillo 100 %
Colour
Red
Producer's website

About this winery

For the son of a winery worker, Mariano García's rise to head winemaker of Vega Sicilia was transcendent. When another taster was needed for a blind tasting teenaged Mario was randomly pulled into the winemaker's office. Of all the tasters he was the only one to identify the two wines in the tasting that were identical. This gifted taster was immediately put to work and by age 24 he had taken over as winemaker of the legendary estate, a role he held for 30 years. Consequently, the world of...

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Production notes

100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) primarily from very old vines – 40 to 80 years old – from nine different villages in the province of Burgos and Valladolid. The harvest was done by hand, in small boxes of 15 kilos that are thoroughly inspected, bunch by bunch, on the selection table.

Tasting notes

Deep purple red color. Notes of red fruits together with subtle aromas of spices coming from the wood emerge. AALTO 2019 is a very fresh and elegant wine. On the palate its broadness, structure and persistence are remarkable.

Press reviews

Vinous

- 94 points -

September 2023 (Vintage 2021)

The 2021 Aalto is a 100% Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero and was aged for up to two years in French and American barrels. Garnet-red with a purple sheen. Cedar and vanilla lead the nose, followed by blackcurrant, blackberry and subtle herbal notes in the background. The palate is indulgent and creamy, with a classic 'reserva' profile but distinctively light on its feet for a Ribera del Duero wine. The 2021 Aalto is a long-lasting, juicy, subtly chalky red.

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Wine Advocate

- 94 points -

Luis Gutiérrez, January 2023 (Vintage 2020)

The nose of the red 2020 Aalto comes blasting with tons of toasted oak, spice, smoke and more toast, ripe berries and a luxurious creaminess like the finest modern wines from the turn of the century. This is predictable but exactly what their customers are looking for, with ripe berries, generous oak and a velvety palate with volume, soft tannins and mellow acidity. It matured in French and American oak barrels for 18 months. Some things never change.

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James Suckling

- 93 points -

October 2022 (Vintage 2020)

Fine spice and vanilla to the blackberries, mussels, sandalwood, minerals, black walnuts and dark chocolate. Quite well-judged and balanced on the palate, showing a mid-palate that is about freshness, fruit and fluidity, together with tight, nicely grippy tannins. Juicy, chewy and long. Drinkable now, but better from 2024. 

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