2011 Único Reserva Especial (1991, 1994, 1998), Vega Sicilia, Ribera del Duero, Spain

2011 Único Reserva Especial (1991, 1994, 1998), Vega Sicilia, Ribera del Duero, Spain

Product: 10008046286
 
2011 Único Reserva Especial (1991, 1994, 1998), Vega Sicilia, Ribera del Duero, Spain

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Description

This is the essence of Vega Sicilia. Selected barrels from a trinity of great vintages are kept back and when the time is right, blended to make the archetypal Vega Sicilia – the Reserva Especial (this release is a blend of the 1991, 1994 and 1999, with an average blend of 85% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a touch of Merlot). This epitomises the estate, drawing the best of the Unico releases together, to make a “super-Unico. An incredible wine.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate
I must confess that I am not such an ardent supported of the Reserva Especiale as others. It is not that I dislike the blend, but I find it less intellectual satisfying without a temporal “anchor” i.e. vintage. This 2012 release of Unico Reserva Especiale is a blend of 1991, 1994 and 1999. It has an immediately seductive bouquet of macerated cherries, lavender, marmalade and candied orange peel. It has wonderful definition and purity. The palate is medium-bodied with lush, rounded tannins on the entry. Vibrant dark berries, maraschino, orange peel and a dash of Chinese 5-spice all vie for attention, whilst the finish is elegant, sensual and beautifully defined. This is very alluring and for want of a better word?sexy.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com #202 Aug 2012 Read more

About this WINE

Vega Sicilia

Vega Sicilia

Vega Sicilia, Spain's “first growth” and most prestigious wine estate, is located in Ribera del DueroIt was founded in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves, who arrived from Bordeaux with cuttings of local grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec) and planted them, together with Spain’s signature grape Tinto Fino (aka Tempranillo) in the arid Ribera soils.

The winery begun building its formidable reputation after 1903 under the ownership of Antonio Herrero, winning a number of awards at home and overseas. The estate changed hands several more times before its acquisition by the current owners, the Álvarez family, in 1982.

The estate’s success is founded on its meticulous approach. In the vineyard it applies low yields, aided by green harvesting and painstaking selection at harvest. In the winery, wines are aged in any number of receptacles – using French and American, new and old oak, small barrels or huge vats – to engender further complexity. Despite prolonged barrel ageing, the fruit is never dried out or overly oaky – compelling evidence of the superb quality of its raw materials.

The Vega Sicilia range includes three cuvées: Único (literally translating as “unique”) is the flagship, followed by Único Reserva Especial (a multi-vintage blend) and their “entry-level” offering Valbuena 5° (an expression of Tinto Fino aged for five years, hence the “5°”). The top two wines are a blend of Tinto Fino with a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Merlot, depending on the vintage. They are both aged for approximately 10 years prior to release, normally spending six of those in barrel and three in bottle.

This illustrious property laid the founding stone for Ribera del Duero, which is now acknowledged to be one of the best wine regions in Spain.

Vega Sicilia has now built up a portfolio which includes Bodegas Alion (providing a more modern expression of Ribera del Duero),  Bodegas Pintia (in the emerging region  Toro), Macán (a partnership with Benjamin de Rothschild) and the Hungarian Tokaji estate, Oremus.

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Tinto Fino & Cab. Sauvignon

Tinto Fino & Cab. Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is the most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins.

Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.

Tempranillo is a high quality red wine grape that is grown all over Spain except in the hot South - it is known as Tinto Fino in Ribera del Duero, Cencibel in La Mancha and Valdepenas and Ull de Llebre in Catalonia. Its spiritual home is in Rioja and Navarra where it constitutes around 70% of most red blends. Tempranillo based wines tend to have a spicy, herbal, tobacco-like character accompanied by ripe strawberry and red cherry fruits. It produces fresh, vibrantly fruit driven "jovenes" meant for drinking young

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