Bodegas Aalto Aalto 2021

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Bodegas Aalto
Aalto 2021

Vintage : 2021
Country : Spain
Region : Ribera del Duero
Subregion
Type : Red
Style Rich and Spicy
Format : 75cl
Alcohol : 14°
Grappes : 100% Tempranillo

Wine Spectator TOP 100 2015 #6 !

Experts		Score	Vintage
RP	Robert Parker	94	2020
JS	James Suckling	93	2020
JD	Jeb Dunnuck	95	2018
WS	Wine Spectator	94	2017
VN	Vinous (Antonio Galloni)	93	2017

More information on wine critics and ratings

Description
Reviews
From the same producer

Mariano García made the wines at Spanish icon Vega Sicilia for 30 years before founding Aalto in 1999 with partner Javier Zaccagnini, and the young winery has established a record of consistent quality. This bottling is 100 percent Tinto Fino (the local name for Tempranillo), primarily from old-vine vineyards.

After a brutally dry summer in 2012, García decided to drop 30 percent of the grape bunches to encourage uniform ripening of the remaining fruit on the drought-stressed vines. The wine ages an average of 20 months in 85 percent French oak, the rest American.

Robert Parker (RP) : 94 Points (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.

James Suckling (JS) : 93 Points (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.

Jeb Dunnuck (JD) : 95 Points (2018)

Starting with the 2018 Aalto (100% Tempranillo), this perennial winner boasts a deep purple hue as well as a rocking nose of black raspberry and cassis fruits interwoven with lots of Asian spices, cedarwood, lead pencil, chocolate, and graphite. Rich, full-bodied, and powerful, with a great mid-palate, it stays light on its feet and has a focused, pure texture, notable tannins, and a great finish. This is a head-turning, beautifully textured Ribera del Duero to enjoy over the coming decade or more.

Wine Spectator (WS) : 94 Points (2017)

The 2017 Aalto was a surprise for the vintage. They had to select the grapes from their own vineyards, and they produced less wine. It feels a little lighter and fresher, more approachable at this point in time. The oak also seems to be more integrated. It's a very drinkable Aalto in its style. They only used some 20% new oak and possibly did a softer vinification. It's approachable now, but it should also develop nicely in bottle, as the year had more acidity.

Vinous (Antonio Galloni) (VN) : 93 Points (2017)

Opaque ruby. An expressive bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, licorice, mocha and woodsmoke, and a spicy note builds in the glass. Juicy and energetic on the palate, offering appealingly sweet blackberry, cherry cola and lavender pastille flavors that are sharpened by a peppery nuance. Smooth tannins come in late on a long, dark-fruit-driven finish, which leaves a subtle touch of vanilla behind. Drinking window: 2023 - 2031