Finca Allende Aurus Rioja Tempranillo Doca Spain 2011

rl130874-od 

$444.99 price per bottle

FINCA ALLENDE AURUS RIOJA TEMPRANILLO DOCA SPAIN 2011 Founded in 1986 by Miguel Ángel de Gregorio in the hillside town of Briones, Finca Allende is located in an ancient 17th century manor, set in a medieval town square within the heart of Rioja Alta. Roughly translated as ‘further,’ Allende’s philosophy is to go further towards creating the perfect Rioja. The majority of vines are plowed with mules and grapes are hand-harvested, triple-selected and manually punched-down before undergoing extensive underground aging in both barrel and bottle. Known for
producing round wines with great body and structure, each bottle is hand-crafted by and contains the signature of Miguel Ángel de Gregorio. Considered to be Spain’s first terroirist, Miguel Ángel’s sincere dedication to natural farming and preserving the integrity of Rioja Alta are why he is one of Rioja’s most celebrated winemakers and a mastermind when it comes to making world-class Tempranillo. Intense purple in color with powerful and elegant aromas on the nose, including berry compote, mineral notes, ink, sweet spice, mint, wild herbs, toffee and cocoa. On the palate, the wine offers great harmony and balance with ripe tannins and complex flavors of wild berries, sultanas, licorice, coffee and Mediterranean forest herbs. With well-balanced acidity and an interminable finish, this wine will age well in bottle. The vineyards of Finca Allende are planted near the village of Briones, about 2. 5 hours north of Madrid and the same distance to the Atlantic Ocean as Bordeaux’s famous Saint Émilion. The pinnacle of Finca Allende’s red wine portfolio is Aurus, which comes from the Latin word Aurum, referring to gold. To winemaker Miguel Angel, Aurus represents Allende’s Golden Ratio and his constant drive to reach perfection. Harvested from small vineyard blocks, each over 60 years-old, Aurus comprises a unique Riojan blend of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano. Head-pruned vineyards are organically grown, plowed by mule and planted in sandy-loam and clay-rich soils with abundant gravel and depth. During harvest, grapes are handpicked and triple-selected, first cluster-by-cluster and then grape-by-grape, before a cold, whole berry prefermentary maceration takes place at 41°F for six days. After this time, alcoholic fermentation takes place using native yeasts at 82°F, over 16 days in large open-top oak tanks. Daily manual punch-downs and/or pump-overs are performed three times a day, for a total skin maceration of 22 days. The finished wine is then drained using gravity and pressed using a traditional vertical press. Malolactic fermentation is performed in barrel and the resulting wine is aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels. The wine is neither filtered nor fined before bottling. 2011 began in Rioja Alta with cooler and drier-than-normal weather. A rainy and warm March replenished the region’s rather scarce hydric reserves and sparked the onset of bud-break during the second week of April. Bud break was followed by a rapid and intense vegetative development of the vines, where flowering took place during the first week of June. A rather dry summer and early fall led to an early veraison and promoted the final stages of a healthy phenolic maturation. Harvest began on the September 27th in the absence of rain, with slightly lower temperatures.