Aalto PS 2001
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Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Not surprisingly, in a vintage that afforded great raw materials, the 2001 PS is out of this world. Smoke, graphite, blackberry liqueur, blueberries, violets, and spicy oak jump from the glass of this inky/purple-colored 2001. Texturally and color-wise, it is reminiscent of dry vintage port. With terrific purity and a full-bodied, rich palate that offers multiple dimensions, there is a seamlessness to this wine even though it remains young and unevolved.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aalto is one of several smaller projects being led by former Vega Sicilia head winemaker Mariano García, and we think this 2001 Pagos Seliccionados (PS) is his best effort to date. The wine is dark, with charcoal, lemon and pure black-fruit aromas. It features a brilliant luster and deep, rich, syrupy flavors of maple, boysenberry and black cherry. Shows a beautiful finish and amazing depth.
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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.
Final blends are decided by site rather than barrel. The primary cuvée, simply known as Aalto, sees about 50% new oak with the remainder in second and third fill barrels. In the very best vintages a small selection of the oldest vines fruit from the best sites is bottled separately as Aalto PS (Pagos Selectionados). This wine is aged entirely in new French oak and sees an additional four months of elevage.