Alejairén Tinaja 2023 is the most avant-garde version of a wine that is already a classic in the D.O. La Mancha. Made by the Fernández Rivera family, creators of Tinto Pesquera, it has replaced aging in oak barrels with an 8-month stay in Italian clay tinajas. The result is simply exceptional.
Consumption features
Serving temperature
Consumption time
General features
Type of wine
Region
Grape variety
100% Airén
Type of barrel
Clay amphorae
Type of bottle
Bordeaux Bottle
Barrel aging time
8 months
Capacity (cl)
75
Bottling
22/05/2024
Total acidity (g/l)
4.90
Volatile acidity (g/l)
0.20
Sugar
1.23
pH
3.43
Alcohol content (% vol.)
15
General Information
Who doesn't know Alejairén? The great white wine from La Mancha by the Fernández Rivera family was a creation of its founder, the late Alejandro Fernández, who named it by merging his name with that of the airén variety, the most characteristic white grape of La Mancha. Alejairén Tinaja 2023 reinterprets the already classic Crianza, in this case thanks to an 8-month rest in clay jars imported from Italy. It is a fresh, complex, and deep white wine, an avant-garde wine you cannot miss.
At El Vínculo, located in Campo de Criptana (Ciudad Real), next to the old railway station and under the watchful eye of the legendary windmills, the Fernández Rivera family has poured all the winemaking wisdom they have accumulated over nearly five decades of work in Ribera del Duero. In the heart of La Mancha, they found the best old dry-farmed tempranillo vineyards and applied their most personal viticultural vision.
El Vínculo was born in 1999 and symbolizes the union between the two Castillas, as well as paying tribute to previous generations of the Fernández Rivera family, who gained fame decades ago with the legendary Tinto Pesquera. The old vineyards that supply the winery are cultivated in the shadow of the ancient windmills that challenged Don Quixote and have no equal in all of Castilla-La Mancha.
Alejairén Tinaja 2023 will pair perfectly with salmon tartare or Galician-style turbot.
Tasting notes
Of a beautiful pale golden yellow color, crystalline and very luminous.
On the nose, it is elegant, complex, and with a high aromatic intensity. The first notes are from the floral series, continuing the journey with hints of white stone fruit and a soft background of low mountain with balsamic reminiscences.
On the palate, it is balanced, with a good structure, resulting in a glyceric and unctuous texture. It has breadth and a great passage through the mouth. Long persistence marked by floral memories and a soft citrus background that gives it a pleasant final freshness.
The winery
Familia Fernández Rivera is one of the most renowned national winemaking groups. After placing their Tinto Pesquera at the pinnacle of the global wine atlas, they decided to embark on new projects across different Spanish regions with a common protagonist: the tempranillo variety, which they master so well. The latest of these projects is located in Campo de Criptana (Ciudad Real) and was born at the end of the last century under the name of El Vínculo.
In 1999, the family found perfectly acclimated tempranillo vineyards in these lands of Don Quixote and committed to producing great Manchego red wines with them. El Vínculo is the only winery in the group that does not focus exclusively on tempranillo. Its vineyards also include the white airén grape, native to the region, with which they craft one of the best national white wines: Alejairén.