Aalto 2022 magnum

STORY

AALTO is a wine project founded in February 1999 by Mariano García and Javier Zaccagnini in the prestigious Ribera del Duero Spanish wine region.

Aalto winemaker Mariano García had been in charge of the wines at Vega Sicilia for 30 years, and managing director, Javier Zaccagnini had been the director of Ribera’s regulatory body, the Consejo Regulador, for six years.

Their aim was to obtain the highest possible quality from the terroir of Ribera del Duero and develop a great wine that, after 15 to 20 years of serious work, based on the expertise of Mariano and the management of Javier, would be comparable in quality to the great wines of the world. To be comparable in prestige would probably take about 100 years but the case of AALTO is different: in less than 16 years Mariano and Javier have achieved their goal.

Three facts are significant in explaining the rapid ascent:

1. The exceptional quality of old Tinto Fino clones (Tempranillo vines which have adapted to Ribera del Duero’s climate and soils). We believe that Tinto Fino can offer similar quality to the world’s best-known varieties: Cabernet in the Médoc, Pinot Noir in Burgundy, Syrah in the Rhône, etc.
2. The considerable complexity of our soils (clay, limestone, sand and pebbles) combined with the microclimate of our region.
3. The winemaking talent and vast experience of Mariano García.

The key to AALTO’s complexity is the choice of the best fruit from across Ribera del Duero’s diverse terroirs. We now cultivate 110 hectares of old block Tinto Fino vines, made up of 200 plots, none bigger than 1 hectare sourcing from 9 different villages within the region. The top villages include Roa, La Horra, La Aguilera, Fresnillo and Moradillo.

Each plot is harvested and handled separately, with different oak treatments.

Up to the 2004 vintage we were making our wines at rented premises in Roa (Burgos) while our new bodega was being built in a 15 hectare estate that we own in Quintanilla de Arriba (Valladolid).

We designed and built a modern winery following strict criteria to ensure optimal winemaking conditions. We use a low temperature chamber to cool harvested grapes prior to de-stemming and harness gravity to move grapes and musts around the winery, thus avoiding aggressive pumps. We ferment in wood, concrete and stainless steel, employing tanks designed by us. Our two underground oak- ageing halls offer excellent natural conditions to allow perfect malolactic fermentation in wood and gentle, controlled barrel ageing.

Our 2005 vintage was completely made in the new bodega.

We offer two different wines:

• AALTO: is the result of our extremely careful selection of grapes and expert winemaking. It is a wine of high quality and will be offered every year, except in those when we decide that the climate has not allowed for a perfect ripening of the grapes. This could happen one year out of ten. Aalto spends usually 20 months in oak: 50% new French, the other 50% one-to three-year-old French and American oak barrels.

• AALTO PS (Pagos Seleccionados): our top wine, made only in years when the quality of the harvest allows for the highest standards. This wine is a special and careful selection of the grapes that have reached and exceptional ripening, coming from the very best areas (called Pagos) of our vineyards. We expect to be able to offer this wine seven or eight vintages each decade. After its alcoholic fermentation, this wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in new barrels and is then aged for a further 24 months in 100% new French oak.

Both AALTO PS and AALTO are blended after ageing.

Aalto’s production has been steady at around 200.000 bottles, but is now increasing to 250.000. The production of the AALTO PS is no more than 10.000 bottles.

After 16 years, AALTO is widely regarded as one of the leading wineries in Ribera del Duero. Our wine AALTO PS has been elected the Spain’s Best Wine several times and the winery has been selected in Paris as one of the best 100 wineries in the world in Michel Bettane’s and Thiery Dessauve’s book.

När man läser hans CV förstår man hur mycket Mariano betytt för spansk vinutveckling. Med en vinarbetande pappa var Mariano i praktiken född ute i vinfälten. Endast 24 år gammal blev han vinmakare på Bodegas Vega Sicilia. Mariano var huvudvinmakaren där i 30 år mellan 1968-1998.

HUR MAURO SKAPADES

Under sin tid på Vega Sicilia startade han även upp Bodegas Mauro 1978. Namnet kom som en hyllning till hans pappa Mauro som introducerade honom i vinvärlden. Mauro skapades som ett personligt projekt vid sidan om. Åren gick och alla började undra vem som låg bakom det här fantastiska vinet efter att ha fått väldigt fina omdömen av vinexperter. Till slut visade sig att Mariano låg bakom vinet och valde att fullfölja sin dröm och driva vingården framåt sedan dess.

INTRESSANT FAKTA MAURO

Mauro skapades 1978. Ribera del duero vindistriktet skapades och delades in 1982. Mauro hamnade strax utanför Ribera Del Duero gränsen och tillhör istället regionen Castilla y Leon.  Detta var en faktor varför ett annat vin skapades utav honom se nedan.

BODEGAS AALTO

1999 startade han tillsammans med Javier Zaccagnini Bodegas Aalto. Målet var att göra ett värdsklassvin från Ribera del duero. För att lyckas behövde man de bästa odlingarna i Ribera del Duero. Med Mariano som vinmakare och Javier som varit direktör för hela Ribera – områdets regelverk visste man exakt var man skulle leta när man skulle köpa mark och kontraktera odlare. Inom loppet av 20 år skulle man göra ett av Spanien bästa Ribera viner. Redan 2001 fick Aalto PS 98 poäng Rober Parker dvs 2 år efter vingården skapades!

BODEGAS SAN ROMAN

1997 skapade han även San Roman i vindistriktet Toro. Ett distrikt som Mariano insåg ha stor potential för att tillverka kraftfulla viner med finess.

DATA OF THE ADDED

The agricultural year began with a temperate and dry autumn, followed by an atypical winter for a continental climate, with mild temperatures, very rainy and few extreme frosts. In spring we had little rain and no late frosts. The sprouting was irregular in the Ribera del Duero, with a very dry and warm summer. At the end of August and the first of September, a heat wave arrived that caused some water stress to the vineyard, influencing the ripening. We started the harvest on September 26 and it lasted for 23 days. The grapes entered the winery in optimal sanitary conditions and with great quality.

ORIGIN OF THE GRAPE

100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), mostly from very old vines, aged between 40 and 80 years old, from our vineyards in seven different villages in the Ribera del Duero region of Burgos, as well as the youngest grapes from our own vineyards in two towns in the province of Valladolid. The harvest is done by hand, in small boxes of 15 kilos and we inspected meticulously, cluster by cluster, in selection table.

CATA'S NOTES

Dark purple color, corresponding to the ripe Tempranillo. The nose has good fruit intensity, freshness and light touches of wood well integrated. The palate is complex, structured and elegant, with typical nuances of licorice, coffee, tobacco, black fruits and spices, always within the AALTO personality and style. This wine has a sweet character and can be drunk from the first moment, since it is round, with enveloping and balanced tannins, showing a good acidity. AALTO 2016 will gain complexity over the years.

AGING IN BARREL

Average aging of 17 months in 50% new barrels, of French and American oak.