Bodega Alion caused quite a stir when it was inaugurally released. Aficionados of the mother winery Vega Sicilia's established style rejected the more modern, newly oaked, wider Ribera Del Duero delineation of Alion. It has since become a regional classic. Vines are planted to chalk dominated, minerals rich topsoils over water retaining schist bedrocks, the same structures found under the finest Port vineyards further down the Duero. Fruit is treated to a traditional vinification and malolactic in steel vats. The following January, Alion is transfered to a selection of new French Nevers oak barrels for a year's maturation and a further twelve months ageing in bottle under the estate cellars.