This Aalto PS 2011 exhibits a very dark color, staining the glass, and a panoply of aromas: flinty soils, toasted bread, licorice, spices and black fruit. On the palate, its acidity teams up with the alcohol to counterbalance the abundant tannins, resulting in a perfectly structured wine of considerable elegance and finesse.
Reviews:
- Wine Advocate: he nose has the characteristic dill-like aroma imparted by the American oak (malolactic is carried out in new American barrels and the aging is in French oak only) and plenty of notes of incense, cigar ash, nutmeg and clove over a core of ripe black fruit. The palate is full-bodied, and shows both elegance and power, with grainy, fine tannins and a silky, slightly dusty texture and moderate acidity.
Producer Information
In 1999, after 30 years as technical director and world–renown winemaker for Vega Sicilia, Mariano Garcia founded Bodegas Aalto. From the beginning he has been guided by three principals: old-vine or massale selection Tinto Fino, a wide range of terroirs spread over nine villages in the province of Burgos, and his vast experience in viticulture and winemaking. Bodegas Aalto controls and farms 110 hectares of vines. Twenty hectares are a young vines (a massale selection from their best old-vine material) while the remaining 90 hectares are from 40 to 100 years old. The soils where their vineyards are situated vary from stony red clay to free-draining and limestone rich sands. The combination of the two provides both structure and a purity of fruit to the final wines. Vineyard work at Aalto is entirely manual with the primary goal of maintaining low yields. With many of the vines being old, yields are kept low naturally but Mariano will also green harvest to ensure that the fruit at harvest is concentrated and evenly ripe. Harvesting is manual as well and the grapes are transported to the cellar in small crates where they are sorted, chilled, destemming and sorted again before crushing. Fermentations are conducted, by parcel, in stainless steel, cement or oak vats designed specifically by Mariano. Maceration is gentle with regular pump overs ensuring a good extraction of fruit without harsh or bitter tannins. Once the fermentation is complete the wines are racked, by gravity, into French and American oak barrels located in a cool, subterranean cellar.
