Vega Sicilia Unico 75cl 2014

Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) , Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec.

Vega Sicilia Unico is een topwijn uit Ribera del Duero

Vega Sicilia Unico is een complexe, zeer geconcentreerde, donkergekleurde wijn met aroma's van rijpe bessen, kersen, bramen, cederhout, tabak, mineralen en cacao. De wijn heeft stevige, maar rijpe tannines en een lange en intense afdronk.

Een uitstekende combinatie met rood vlees, wild en harde kazen. Is op dronk, maar kan zich tenminste tot 2033 nog verder ontwikkelen.

The Wine Advocate:

"The 2014 Único was produced with grapes from 40 hectares of vines selected from the 210 hectares the winery has. The grapes were picked between September 20th and October 3rd, and the blend was 94% Tinto Fino and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, with malolactic in stainless steel. The first part of the aging was in 225-liter barrels and the second one in 20,000-liter oak vats, and the élevage lasts 10 years between oak and bottle. It's a year that combines power and elegance; it's concentrated but has subtleness. I had a unique opportunity to taste it from magnum one year ago and was truly impressed. This tasting was consistent with those sensations. 2014 was a good vintage in the zone, a year with good rain and a big crop, not as powerful as 2012 or 2015 but a year with finesse. The wine feels very balanced, lower in alcohol and with integrated oak, crunchy, fresh and still young. It feels quite classical; it's fine-boned, elegant but also powerful, more like the Únicos from yesteryear. It has to be one of the finest vintages of recent times. It has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and five grams of acidity measured in tartaric acid per liter of wine. One of the largest vintages of Único, 104,606 bottles, 3,612 magnums, 356 double magnums, 50 imperials and five Salmanazars were produced. It was bottled in June 2020. It seems like years ending in four—94, 2004, 2014 (but not 84, that was not produced)—are very good here. We'll have to wait and see about the 2024...

At Vega Sicilia, they never stop changing and relentlessly looking for ways to improve their wines. They are increasing the capacity of 75,000-liter oak vats and have conducted a study of their non-Saccharomyces yeasts.

I attended a once-in-a-lifetime tasting of all the vintages in magnum from Vega Sicilia to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the purchase of the winery by the Álvarez family. It was not a very formal tasting but more of a day of enjoyment and celebration with colleagues from the international press. Food (from Celler de Can Roca) was even served during the tasting, so my notes are sometimes very sketchy; but I wanted to take the opportunity to give context to some of the greatest vintages ever (mostly 1970 and 1968), tasting all the wines side by side."

Luis Gutiérrez, Jan 2024