Had with roast pork short ribs and superb crackling for lunch yesterday.
Popped and poured. Started out very well, with meaty Grenachey qualities and hints of game. Very nice. Dried out quite quickly though and became a bit leaner and more austere. I am very glad I didn’t decant, but initially at least, a lovely wine.
On the UK board several people have had the same experience with it, but several also suggested I should have decanted for several hours. It was so open when first tasted though, that not sure about that.
Meaty, gamey and smoked meats are tell-tale characteristics of some Tempranillo based wines from Ribera del Duero. Val Sotillo is usually a good example of that.
I have not had the 1999 Alión in the last year but it was never a great Alión IMO, even though it was a very good vintage in Ribera del Duero. The 1998-2000 vintages of Alión were not as good as other years for this estate. Some people attribute it to the departure of Mariano García (He left in May 1998). The last time I had a 1999 Alión it did not show the gameniness you mention on your tasting note but it had the dried out characteristic you described.
Hey Nigel - of that wine, the 1994, 5, and 6, 2001 and 4 would be better bets. I’m not finding those from the 90s to be drying out either. And I’m not buying the 2004 and 5 which are now coming in at $70 - $80. Too bad because those should be great vintages. I understand what you mean when you said it had a grenache kind of note if you’re drinking wines from the Rhone. The syrah can also have that kind of bacony meaty quality. It might be a good idea to do a blind taste of RdD and Rhone syrah one day.
The three weakest vintages of Alión in elmundovino blind tastings have been 1997, 1999 and 2002. We rated the 1999 the equivalent of a Wine Advocate 88 points, with these tasting notes back in March 2003: “Very intense, almost opaque black cherry color. Good aromatic intensity with some citrus (orange rind) notes in the forefront, very ripe blackberries and licorice. Medium-bodied, tasty, with polished tannins, but with non-integrated acidity, and it finishes rather short.”