2015 Aalto - Ribera del Duero (90 pts) #winereview

2015 Aalto - Ribera del Duero (90 pts) #winereview @aaltowinery @europeancellars · ❓What is your favorite Ribera del Duero wine?· ℹ️ The winemaker of Aalto is Mariano Garcia, formerly of Vega Sicilia fame. Aalto's first vintage was in 1999. The winery acquired 32 hectares of choice old vine vineyards across the region. The majority of this wine comes from vines that are 40-80 years old with the rest (15%) being young vines at 15 years old. Elevation of 800-900 m. 💯 Tempranillo 🍇 are hand harvested, destemmed, and fermented in a mix of stainless steel, concrete, and oak vats. Aged in oak barrels for 18 months with 50% being new oak. They use a combination of French (85%) and American (15%) oak· 👀 Medium purple color· 👃 Medium+ intensity on the nose. Aromas of oak, vanilla, baking spices, leather, white pepper, blackberry, dark cherry, black currant, and coffee· 👄 The wine is dry, medium acidity, high grippy and furry tannins, high alcohol, and medium+ body. Saw dust texture which is polished for it's price. Flavors dark fruit, blackberry, black cherry, and black currant. Quickly roll into powerful oak notes of vanilla, clove, and coffee. The medium+ length finish and savory finish (white pepper), but there is lingering grip from the tannin and overall structure· 🔔 Extremely well made wine and I respect it, but not necessarily my style of wine. This wine has a lot of structure, especially for it's price point. The oak adds complexity, but in my opinion covers up some of the purity of the old vine fruit that was evident in the 2013 vintage. All of this being said this 🍷 is a crowd pleaser, especially after an hour in the decanter. This will improve over the next 5-7 years· #winegeek #spanishwine #tempranillo #aalto