Winemaker Notes
Alomado refers to the rolling hills or "lomas" that mark the landscape of the Sonsierra Riojana, considered by many to the finest terroir in Rioja for cultivating Tempranillo due to the Atlantic weather, high altitude, and limestone rich soils. Alomado is Eduardo and Carlota's most Atlantic and accessible interpretation of a field blend planted on the Ábalos side of San Vicente de la Sonsierra.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very lively, vibrant Rioja that delivers a bit of white pepper and fresh herbs to the aromas of racy strawberries and grapefruit. Juicy, agile and bright on the palate with a medium body. Silky and quite drinkable.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The younger 2020 Alomado comes from two vineyards now, the original Ribarrey and also Finca Sacramento, where he has Viura that was planted in 1960 and Tempranillo from 1985 on colluvial soils. The fermentation and élevage is similar to the other wines and the 2019 vintage I also tasted—co-fermented, finishing with selected yeasts and 16 months in 500-liter barrels. Volumes have grown (to 7,946 bottles), but so has quality.
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Wine Spectator
A buoyant red, offering cherry, black plum and boysenberry fruit flavors that are ripe and juicy, with a floral edge and an underpinning of spicy minerality and smoke. Defined by light, fine tannins, this harmonious version is medium-bodied and silky on the palate, with a lasting, thyme- and anise-laced finish. Drink now through 2028. 662 cases made, 125 cases imported.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.