Bodegas Vega Sicilia - Ribera del Duero Unico Reserva Especial RE 24 NV (750ml)

 

WS

97

WA

98

JS

97

V

96

Price: $899.99

Sold Out

Producer	Bodegas Vega Sicilia
Country	Spain
Region	Ribera del Duero
Varietal	Tinto Fino
Sku	210000000961
Size	750ml

Bodegas Vega Sicilia - Ribera del Duero Unico Reserva Especial RE 24

Vega Sicilia's Riserva Especial has no vintage and it is the tribute to tradition. The winery here sought to continue a very old Spanish custom and also to combine the balance between vintages. Traditionally, in Spain, the very few wineries that had a bottling process prepared two types of wines in each harvest: the one of the current year and another wine without a specific harvest, which they called "Reserva Especial". It was a mixture of wines from the best harvest from which the most representative wine of the winery was siphoned off.

Unico Reserva Especial 2024 is a blend of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 vintages.

The NV Único Reserva Especial 2024 Release was produced with a blend of wines from 2010, 2011 and 2012, not that far from the previous release, which was from 2009, 2011 and 2012, as they are slowly trying to increase the average age of the wine. As I've seen in the last few years, they look for a house style from yesteryear, combining more developed characteristics with elegance and freshness. This blend of Tinto Fino with some Cabernet Sauvignon is also lower in alcohol, 14%, with a pH of 3.85 and 5.1 grams of acidity. The color denotes some evolution with a faint orange around the rim. The nose is complex and elegant, a more developed version of the 2014 Único that I tasted next to it, with truffle, forest floor, ripe black fruit, sweet spices, leather and meat. The palate feels quite polished, with a superb texture, sleek and elegant, with very fine tannins, subtle bitterness and a long and lingering taste. This is a superb blending exercise.

This graceful red shows lovely interplay between sweet and savory notes, layering black cherry compote, dark chocolate, dried raspberry, spiced orange peel and vanilla flavors, with hints of loamy earth, leather, smoke and wild scrub. Offers focus and structure as well as a sense of equilibrium, with dense tannins swathed in a plush texture and softly juicy orange peel acidity carrying the flavors through the expansive finish. A blend of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 vintages. Tinto Fino and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2040. 

Dried rose petals, sandalwood, cloves, balsamico, leather, and dried flowers. Dark fruits. Medium to full body. It’s tight and structured with a racy and intense finish. Tight at the end. A blend of mostly 2010, 2011 and 2012 of Unico. Then ten years of aging in wood and four years in bottle. Bottled in June 2019. Drink or hold.

The NV Unico Reserva Especial, to be released in 2024, combines vintages from 2010, 2011 and 2012, all sourced from the Vega Sicilia property in Ribera del Duero. A dark garnet-red in color. The aromas offer notes of dark fruit, undergrowth and herbs complemented by pitch and tar against a backdrop of cedar. On the palate, it's dry and velvety with a juicy, mellow character revitalized by a refreshing gust of pine at the back of the throat. This is a complex, subtly nuanced Ribera del Duero wine.