Premium Cellar Selection: Vega Sicilia Único, Valbuena 5, Albion 3-Bottle Set (Greater Portland delivery included*)
Premium Cellar Selection: Vega Sicilia Único, Valbuena 5, Albion 3-Bottle Set (Greater Portland delivery included*)
Few wines have a history as distinguished as that of Vega Sicilia. Founded in the 1860s, its reputation for its flagship vintage has, for more than 100 years, produced a wine appropriately named Único. It is still made much as it was a half-century ago: a selection of only the best vintages released after a decade or more of age. Made from at least 80% Tempranillo and small amounts of Bordeaux varietals, it is a wine of epic proportions, known for great restraint in its youth but great cellaring potential. Its second wine, Valbuena 5, has also gained quite a following.
A HISTORIC ESTATE
It was at Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero, two hours from Madrid, that Tempranillo proved its potential for greatness. When the estate's original founder, Don Eloy Lecanda Chaves returned from France with cuttings of Bordeaux varietals, he planted them alongside the indigenous variety Tinto Fino (Tempranillo). Surprisingly, it was the Tempranillo that produced the superior wine.
By the early twentieth century, word had spread about this remarkable wine from Northern Spain. And when the 1917 and 1918 famously took prizes at the 1929 World’s Fair in Barcelona, its reputation soared. The owner’s insistence on deciding who should get his wine spurred its long run of mystery and exclusivity. Eventually, the wines were made available to the world, and Vega Sicilia became an enduring symbol of taste for upper-class Spaniards living throughout the world.
In 1982, the estate was purchased by the Alvarez family, who brought with them modern business acumen and vast resources but also great respect for Vega Sicilia’s winemaking traditions. And indeed, much of Vega Sicilia’s global reputation was forged in the 1980s and early 1990s, a time of abundance for lovers of the estate’s wines.
Today, the market for Vega Sicilia is one of scarcity and increasing demand. Vega Sicilia’s growing fame and desirability are a testament not only to the estate’s enduring legacy but to the world’s craving for wines of history and noble bearing. Vega Sicilia's vintage Único, Reserva Especial, and Valbuena are such wines.
Wines included in this set (1 bottle each):
2010 Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero ($590)
94% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 6% Cabernet-Sauvignon
From the 1,000 hectares which compose the Vega Sicilia estate, 210 are used for vine-growing, coexisting 19 soil types, and 57 plots containing very specific characteristics. The influence of the Duero River's flow and the passage of time has been vital in developing these soils. Forty of these hectares are used to produce Unico, with at least ten years of aging, in both barrel and bottle, considered one of the world's longest. Aged for 10 years in new and used French and American 225-liter oak barrels and 22,000-liter casks. A long, complex, yet beautiful process makes these wines outstanding when released and eternal when aged.
A HISTORIC VINTAGE
The 2010 vintage of Vega Sicilia Único is widely considered one of the greatest vintages of the last century. “Perfection is as rare in wine as in most things in life, but this is a stunning Único.”
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
99 Points, James Suckling
(September 2020) This is still very tight and closed with so much depth and beauty. The linear line to this is very vertical and draws you down. It shows intense blackberry, dark chocolate, hazelnut, and walnut character. Full body. Chewy yet extremely polished. Precise. Shows decadence.
98 points, Decanter
This is, in my view, the best Unico in the last decade, with unmatched delicacy and complexity and the potential to improve in bottle over many years. As expected, it's powerful, intense, and quite intensely perfumed. As expected, it's powerful, intense, and very long, with blackberry, dark plums, and elegant hints of clove and coffee. The wine is magical on the palate, with its extremely fine-grained texture, a surprising freshness, and a never-ending finish. After 10 years of aging, it is still too young and needs a long time to reach its potential, but it is difficult not to drink it now. Still the greatest in its unique style. This has 25 to 30 years ahead of it, but you could also enjoy it within a few years - that's the essence of Vega Sicilia, its interplay of youth and ageability.
98 Points, Vinous
Opaque violet. Intensely perfumed, expansive black and blue fruit preserve, potpourri, Moroccan spice, and botanical herb scents are complemented by smoky mineral and vanilla flourishes. Penetrating and deeply concentrated on the palate, offering vibrant, mineral-laced black currant, bitter cherry, chewing tobacco, mocha, and floral pastille flavors that deepen on the back half. It shows superb focus and vibrant, floral lift on the wonderfully long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves behind cherry liqueur, candied violet, and spice cake notes.
19/20 Points, Jancis Robinson
A vintage of historic quality. It is magnificent that, even though 10 years have passed, the fruit is still present, in perfect harmony with the tertiary aromas. This is undoubtedly a great vintage for Único. Perhaps among those that will last the longest. Tannin is velvety but present with great depth. It is a complete wine and a vintage that will undoubtedly keep going and grow over time. It is one of the most powerful vintages that I can remember. Drink 2020-2040
2016 Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5, Ribera Del Duero, Spain $232.00
95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 5% Merlot
Valbuena is the pure expression of a Ribera del Duero at Vega Sicilia, with an aging of five years from barrel to bottle, which gives it its name, Valbuena 5º (5th year). The first year of aging is done in oak barrels, and it`s particularly important, using 225-liter 75% French oak and 25% American oak barrels, both new and used. In this first stage, the goal is to build the wine, working on its structure, sense of sweetness, and density. The second year of aging takes place in large wooden vats, in a long and complex process, for, in this stage, it gains elegance, complexity, tension, and subtlety. Valbuena 5º is, perhaps, the Vega Sicilia wine that has evolved the most over the last few years. It presents its splendor in each vintage and a direct view of the greatness of its soil, where the weather conditions each year make a clear distinction on the vintage. Thanks to the extraordinary job in the vineyard and aging in tanks in its second year, today´s Valbuena 5º 2014 is velvety, complex, and harmonious. A very fine wine.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
96 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Valbuena, mostly Tempranillo with some 5% Merlot fermented by plot, making a selection from their 210 hectares of vineyards, and then matured in a combination of barriques and larger 20,000-liter oak vats. 2014 is a spectacular vintage of Valbuena, and it reminds me of the 2010, perhaps a tad more elegant. It's expressive and has floral notes on the nose, along with wild berries, herbs, and a spicy and smoky touch that's nicely integrated. It has good complexity and nuance, and the palate is medium to full-bodied and intense, with pungent flavors and great length and persistence. Truly spectacular!
96 Points, James Suckling
The ripeness is impressive here. A lot of work was done in the vineyard in 2014 to get yields right. It delivers darker fruit aromas and flavors, black cherries and plums, dark chocolate, and licorice. The palate is deeply fleshy with rich blueberries, cassis, and dark roasting herbs. Very deep-set, powerful black fruit with a deeper tannin texture. The power and freshness here are extraordinary. Deeply layered. Superb.
96 Points, Vinous
Vivid ruby. A highly perfumed, complex bouquet displays smoke-accented cherry and black currant liqueur, vanilla, pipe tobacco, and incense qualities, along with exotic spice and mineral overtones. Sweet and deeply concentrated, offering expansive dark fruit, floral pastille, chewing tobacco, and spice cake flavors that become livelier and pick up a hint of cola with aeration. Seamless, focused, and lively for its lushness, finishing very long and sweet, with building florality and fine-grained tannins lending a gentle grip.
2019 Vega Sicilia, Alion, Ribera Del Duero, Spain $154.00
100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo)
2019 Vega Sicilia Alion, with a limited number of bottles produced, is a rare and highly sought-after wine that exemplifies the finest of the dark horse wine region: Ribera Del Duero. We cannot sing their praises enough, it is an exceptional region and this wine of incredible quality and aging potential make it a worthy addition to any wine collector's cellar. Alión, whose name refers to the area of León where the patriarch of the winemaking Álvarez family was born, is located just 15 kilometers from the headquarters and in a very similar location, between the River Duero and the Valladolid to Soria highway, near to Ribera's winemaking capital, Peñafiel. Alion’s vines are an average of 39 years old, 100% Tempranillo (Tinto Fino) and farmed in a biodynamic lowest-intervention-possible style, as is Vega Sicilia’s mission. Everything from Vega Sicilia is a gorgeous, age-worthy wine that every collector should aim to secure, as they are a winery of mythic proportions guiding principle is that “the best wine is still to be made.”
Tasting: deep, garnet color, aromas of ripe, tarry plums and black cherries enticing the senses. Notes of violets, rocks, coffee, and graphite add complexity and intrigue. Refined hints of balsamic fruit and cocoa powder further enhance the aromatic profile. The palate reveals the full beauty of this wine. Full-bodied and juicy, it possesses an iron fist of tannins that provide structure and depth. However, these tannins are remarkably velvety and polished, ensuring a smooth and luxurious mouthfeel. Long lasting finish. Drink now, or wait for its peak – after 2025.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
95 Points James Suckling June 2022
Ripe, tarry plums and black cherries with violets, rocks, coffee and graphite. Refined notes of balsamic fruit and cocoa powder, too. Full-bodied and juicy with an iron fist of tannins, yet at the same time so velvety and polished. Very long, focused finish, showing lots of finesse and layers. Drinkable now, but better after 2025.
94 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, January 2023
The 2019 Alión was cropped from a drier vintage compared with the average, and the wines from that year tend to be powerful, concentrated and with structure. They shortened the maceration by 11 days and used concrete for part of the élevage, trying to reduce the impact from the oak in the wine. They define 2019 as a powerful, concentrated and juicy vintage, sensual and unctuous. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has mellow acidity (4.4 grams) and a pH of 3.88, reflecting the warm and dry year that delivered powerful and concentrated wines, similar to the wines from 2015. It's quite fruit-driven, ripe and juicy, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins despite the limited pumping over they did to avoid extracting too much, and the maceration was also shortened. 256,526 bottles, 7,005 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in June 2021.
92 Points Wine Spectator, July 2023
While tightly meshed and structured by firm, chalky tannins, this red has a plush, polished frame matched to a pretty range of boysenberry coulis, violet, mocha and Earl Grey flavors. Reveals hints of tar and black licorice that linger on the juicy finish. Drink now through 2029.
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PLEASE NOTE
Purchasers must be 21 years of age or older and be present with an ID upon delivery.
Price includes 5.50% Maine State sales tax and Maine’s fifteen-cents redemption deposit per bottle.
If your billing address is different from your delivery address, please include your delivery address in the comments section at checkout.
*Delivery is by Wine Wise—not third-party carriers. Our delivery area is Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland Foreside, Falmouth, Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Saco, Scarborough, South Portland, and Westbrook. We have a larger delivery area for Wine Club deliveries.
