Alonso del Yerro was established 2002 by the husband and wife team of Javier Alonso and Maria del Yerro, when they purchased Finca Santa Marta, a lovely estate situated in the section of Northern Ribera del Duero made famous by neighbours Peter Sisseck of Pingus and Mariano Garcia of Bodegas Aalto.

From the beginning the Alonso del Yerro team has included renowned Bordeaux consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt and his collaborator, oenologist Lionel Gourgue, who has established a high reputation working at Chateaux Carbonnieux and Figeac and in New Zealand, California, and Argentina.

The stated aim of the Alonso del Yerro family - "to make great quality wines in accordance with the principles in which we strongly believe - respect towards the environment, value of friendship, love for our family, and passion for excellence" - could not be more closely aligned with Trialto's commitment to 'Wines of People, Place, and Time'.

The vineyards are high-altitude plots of red clay and gravelly sand, both overlying calcareous stone. All agricultural work is done by hand; no synthetic chemicals of any kind are used; the only 'intervention' is the application of compost from the estate itself. Every effort is made to manage the total environment of the plant taking into consideration the soil, microclimate, and ecosystem. As a result the wines are a splendid expression of their terroir.

The 2010 Alonso del Yerro is classic tempranillo (locally known by the lovely name 'tinta del pais') from Ribera: dark, concentrated and rich, with a deep core of powerful fruit flavour combined with oaky complexity and minerality. After malolactic fermentation in barrel, the wine is aged sur lie for 12 months in a blend of new and used French oak, with frequent stirring of the lees. The result is profoundly dinstinctive - this plummy, spicy, exotic, intriguingly old-fashioned and age-worthy wine could only be Spanish, and only tempranillo.