Wine Advisor
Vega Sicilia, Unico Reserva Especial NV
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Description
Bearing witness to the past, it pays serious homage to the history of Spanish wine in which the most stable Vega Sicilia concept is shown. A wine that, combining the balance between the best vintages and harvests, faithfully reflects the magic of a legendary land. Mixture of years, virtues, experiences and sentiments. The value of an eternal surprise. This red wine 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.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Jay S Miller
The 2011 Release of the Unico Reserva Especial is a blend of vintages 1991, 1994, and 1998. It is a rich, spicy, and complex wine with impeccable balance and another 20 years of life. It simply does not get any better. When you consider that the Reserva Especial sells for less than half the price of a Bordeaux First Growth (and you don’t have to wait for 20 years for it to be approachable) it is one of the great bargains in world-class wine. Bodegas Vega Sicilia’s Valbuena receives 3 years in barrel and 2 years in bottle prior to release. Each year Vega Sicilia releases a small amount of a multi-vintage Unico Reserva Especial blended to reflect the house style of Vega Sicilia at its very best. The vagaries of vintage are blended away leaving a wine that is, in my opinion, better than any of the single vintage wines except in the very greatest years. It is a fascinating exercise to taste the Unico beside the Reserva Especial. Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin, www.europvin.com
Reviewed by: Jay S Miller
The 2009 release of the Non-Vintage Unico Reserva Especial is a blend of the 1990, 1994, and 1996 vintages. Dark ruby in color, it delivers a super-fragrant aromatic array of cigar box, leather, mineral, truffle, incense, and blackberry. On the palate it is mouth filling, complex, and remarkably light on its feet for such a concentrated, powerful effort. Opulent, rich, and perfectly balanced, it will drink well for at least another 25 years. One of the perquisites of reviewing Spanish wine is the opportunity to taste the wines of Vega Sicilia once a year. The Valbuena cuvee receives three years in barrel and two years in bottle prior to release. Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com
Reviewed by: Jay S Miller
The current release of the N.V. Unico Reserva Especial is a blend of the 1991, 1994, and 1995 vintages. Purple-colored it proffers a brooding, complex, sexy perfume of cigar box, leather, mineral, truffles, Asian spices and blackberry jam. Rich, savory, and plush, it effortlessly combines power and elegance. It can be enjoyed now and over the next 20-25 years. Bodegas Vega Sicilia remains a benchmark for the world’s great red wines. The Valbuena bottling receives 3 years in barrel and 2 years in bottle prior to release. Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com
Reviewed by: Jay S Miller
The Reserva Especial is a blend of the best barrels of 1990, 1991, and 1996 (for the record, the Reserva Especial reviewed in Issue #169 is a blend of 1985, 1991, and 1996). Purple-colored, it delivers an ethereal perfume of smoke, mineral, scorched earth, Asian spices, black currant, and blackberry. Elegant yet remarkably powerful, this rich, lavish effort seems to linger on the palate for well over one minute. Although it can certainly be enjoyed now, it has the structure to evolve for another decade and should provide pleasure through 2045. Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Each year Vega Sicilia releases 11 casks (approximately 275 cases) of a non-vintage blend of its wine. The newest offering, which can be identified by the code 004 on the label, is a blend of the 1953, 1964, 1970, and 1974 Unico Reservas. Only vintages of at least 20-40 years of age are included in the blend. The newest release is a sensational effort. It is remarkably youthful and fresh, but also reveals penetratingly mature aromas of cedar, minerals, tobacco, and celestial quantities of curranty and cherry fruit. Full-bodied, velvety-textured, sweet and voluptuous, this massive, impeccably well-balanced, rich wine can be drunk now and over the next 20+ years. Unfortunately, it is extremely limited in availability. Importer: Europvin, USA, Watertown, MA; tel. (617) 924-7620
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Limited in availability (54 barrels, or about 1,300 cases), the non-vintage Unico Reserva Especial is a blend of the 1996, 1991, and 1985 vintages. The lot number is 12/05 as the estate releases this wine in 600 bottle allotments. It is a fabulously complex, dark ruby/purple-colored offering boasting sumptuous notes of graphite, kirsch liqueur, spice box, and vanilla. Opulent, round, and full-bodied, with great precision, freshness, and depth, it should last for another 20-30 years. It is good to see this ancient tradition of Spain being carried on by this hallowed winery. Importer: A Christopher Cannan Selection, various American importers including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300 and Diamond Wine Merchants, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 567-9897
Reviewed by: Jay S Miller
The non-vintage Unico Reserva Especial, scheduled for release in 2007, is a blend of the 1985, 1991, and 1996 vintages. Still purple in color, it has a fabulous nose of pain grille, smoke, spice box, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Layered, rich, and opulent, it should drink well for another 25-40 years. Importer: Christopher Cannan, Europvin; www.europvin.com
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The non-vintage Unico Reserva Especial (a 14,536 bottle blend of the 1985, 1990 and 1991 vintages with lot # 019/04) is spectacular, as this cuvee always tends to be. Made in the full-throttle Unico style, but aromatically more complex as well as slightly more evolved, this titan will drink well young yet age gracefully for another 20-25 years. It is similar in weight, texture, and personality to the 1991 Unico, but more evolved. Good luck trying to find any of it! Importer: a Christopher Cannan Selection, various American importers including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300 and Diamond Wine Merchants, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 567-9897
About the Producer
The wines produced by Bodegas Vega-Sicilia are known as the "kings of wine" in the Spanish wine world and are among the most admired in the world. It has become Spain's most recognizable and expensive wine for over a century. In 1864, the wealthy Eloy Lecanda family acquired a vineyard on the banks of the Duero River in northwestern Spain and named it Bodegas de Lecanda (later "Bega"). Winery of Sicilia"), began a complex and wonderful saga. As early as the early days of the establishment of the garden, the Lacanda family introduced international grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec from Bordeaux, France, to make up for the Spanish ace grape Tempranillo. This is also the beginning of the introduction of French varieties in Spain. At the end of the 19th century, the Vega Sicilia winery began producing its first wines, bottled and sold exclusively in the Rioja region. At this time, the Vega Sicilia winery was not well-known and the production was very limited, and it did not start to improve until the 20th century. Vega Sicilia Winery was originally called "Lacanda Winery", and later changed its name to "Antonio Herrero Winery". It was not until the early 20th century that the current winery name was finally determined. In the 1920s, some vintages from Vega Sicilia were featured in international wine festivals. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Don Jesus Anadon, a highly influential and legendary winemaker in Spain, was responsible for brewing many high-quality vintages. Until 1964, when the winery was sold to a Neumann family from the Czech Republic or Venezuela, Anato continued to work at the winery. In 1982, El Enebro S.A., a company of the Alvarez family, purchased the winery and vineyards of Vega Sicilia from Newman, and since then Vega Sicilia has been taken over by the Alvarez family . After the new owner entered the vineyard, he took a series of reform measures, including formulating a long-term development plan for the winery, adding new brewing equipment, increasing efforts to develop overseas markets, and continuing the position of chief winemaker Anato. This was seen as the most important move, and at the same time, Mariano Garcia, a young winemaker who was already well-known at the time, was hired as Anato's assistant, a decision that also created Vega Sicilia. After 20 years of glory. The current CEO of Vega Sicilia is Pablo Alvarez, an energetic and visionary manager. The winery still practices innovative winemaking techniques and produces wines of superior quality and inspiring. In addition, the estate's owner has started an exciting new project in the Toro appellation. The vineyards of Vega Sicilia are located on a 700-meter-high hillside on the south bank of the Duero River. The natural environment there is extremely harsh, with cold winters and frosty springs. It is such a harsh natural environment forging the tough nature of the vine. In addition, the sun is abundant, and the temperature difference between day and night is very large, so that the grapes can maintain sufficient acidity while ripe, and the wines produced have both good ripeness and a strong sense of structure. The vineyard has calcareous clays with excellent drainage and deep potential, ideal for growing grapes. The average age of the vines is more than 30 years, and the age of the vines in some gardens is even more than 70 years old. At the same time, in order to make the grapes get more nutrients, Vega Sicilia also pays great attention to controlling the planting amount per hectare, and the planting density is extremely high. Low, about 2,200 plants per hectare. This figure is already much lower than the regulations of the Spanish D.O., and even lower than the planting density of the Bordeaux Grand Crus. Since its establishment in 1864, Vega Sicilia Winery has been using traditional winemaking techniques in order to produce wines with the least human interference. The fermentation of the wine takes place in oak barrels, stainless steel barrels and epoxy-lined concrete vats, followed by malolactic fermentation in epoxy-lined concrete vats. The winery also uses French and American casks of varying sizes. The Unico is quite flexible, typically aged in small oak barrels (new and old) for 2-4 years, and then transferred to large oak barrels for blending and purification. Unique Collections are only made in the best vintages, and some vintages (like 1970) are said to be kept in wooden barrels for up to 16 years.
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