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DSCN9023It is rather rare that I have this cult wine in my glass, very rare indeed. In the tasting and discussion forum "cellarTracker" there are more than fifty assessments - for this vintage alone. Scores: 92, 92, 94 - none below 90, even a top score of 100 points. What more can I say or write. It is a top wine, this is undisputed? Wrong, there is still an amateur taster on the aforementioned website who may only give it 84 points. Reason: "Mouth: Tannin backed up with plenty of tannin with a soupcon of tannin over the top. Quite bitter at that as well, If I could find some fruit it would warrant cellaring but I can't so it's not for me." Drank too early (the note was written in 2009), a bad bottle or completely different expectations, different taste preferences? I don't know, it doesn't matter. For me, too, the wine is plenty young, even now - five years after the quoted assessment and almost nine years after the harvest. And yet: a beguiling fragrance, of blackberry, violets, truffles... I don't even want to list all the things that come to mind. It is, after all, a cult wine, and if it wants to live up to its reputation, it has a lot to offer: Cinnamon, tobacco, smoke... But does all this - and much more - really make up the cult? Or: what is it that makes this wine more cult than other - good (even excellent) - wines? One taster, who awards the wine 97 points, enthuses: "It is a beautifully balanced wine that carries elements of the Spanish countryside (earth, sun) and yet is so elegant and refined. Ruby red colours like oil, scents of red berries, full body, balanced in the tannins and acidity, a finish that lasts forever. Great wine and great experience" (freely translated). Does all this already lead to a cult? I mean - it's the same in Bordelais and in Burgundy - it's something else that can (not must) lead to a cult. 068BJ20010228D0033,Reise,Spanien,Bodegas,-Wein,Bodega-Alion,Bodega-+-Vinedos-Alion,-PenafielIt is the exclusivity that develops when great winemakers, famous names, bring a good wine to the market - even at your decent price, which makes the preciousness clear - and in a way that hardly exists in such a way. Vega Sicilia, one of the most famous (and largest) wineries in Spain, has set standards with its wines "Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial", "Vega Sicilia Unico Gran Reserva" and the second wine "Valbuena 5°". and developed a style that is something like unique: powerful, tannic, with at least 14 vol% (or more), blends of Tempranillo (largest share) and Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and others.

If, a good ten years ago, Vega Sicilia created a single-varietal wine - one hundred per cent Temranillo - that is different, but of similar quality, and even cheaper (compared to the other top wines), then all the prerequisites are there to become a cult wine in a short time. But cult alone is not enough - it only drives up prices (see Petrus in Bordeaux) - it also has to be an independent, excellently made, enjoyable wine. And this - this is the crucial thing - is the Alion, cult or not....

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