Today sees the latest release of Unico and Valbuena from the fabled Ribera del Duero estate Vega Sicilia. Prized for their consistency and first-growth equivalent quality, Vega Sicilia produces Spain’s most collectible and iconic wines. 2022 saw the fortieth anniversary under Pablo Alvarez’s ownership and bottles from the eighties and nineties have more than proven the test of time.
Whilst we have sadly not had the opportunity to taste the 2013, little appears to have changed from a winemaking standpoint as Unico continues to benefit from one of the longest aging periods (outside of Fortified Wines) of any wine in the world, at a staggering ten years between vintage and release. A selection of the finest vines at an elevation of 700-900m, the wine is raised in a combination of French and American oak in a range of sizes.
Read MoreWhere Unico deserves time and patience, as Jancis Robinson’s tasting note below attests, Valbuena is regularly more of a charmer in youth, with its own distinct character and inherent quality and concentration. Released after five years, two spent in barrel and three in bottle, it is in many respects a baby-Unico well worthy of attention.
Alion comes from carefully selected terroirs located in the very best areas of the Ribera del Duero DO region. The soils complement each other and, allied with the same winemaking processes used in Vega Sicilia, produces a wine with a firm structure.
The Vega Sicilia 2013 Vintage Report:
A mild winter with slightly higher temperatures and less rainfall than the year-on-year average saw budburst brought forward by seven days. However, spring rains and relatively low temperatures led to flowering and veraison occurring ten days later in the cycle compared to the previous year. Summer temperatures were normal; it was somewhat dry, with several storms that caused minimal damage.
September saw normal average temperatures, but low minimums, and hence large diurnal variation. Harvest took place from the end of September through to mid-October with abundant rainfall efforts in the vineyard ensured the grapes were in perfect health and ripeness when they entered the winery.
Unico 2013
97% Tinto Fino, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cool, wet spring followed by normal summer but rain during the extended harvest (27 September to 17 October) – ‘major efforts in the vineyard ensured the grapes were in perfect health and ripeness when they entered the winery’. Yield 25.2 hl/ha. Bottled June 2019: 76,476 bottles, 3,658 magnums, 362 double magnums, 59 Impériales and 6 Salmanazars. From magnum.
Dark crimson. Intense medicinal nose. Very sharp and intense and hard work in terms of acid and tannin but very promising. Essence of Vega Sicilia. – 18+++ pts, Jancis Robinson MW.