2012 Vega Sicilia "Unico", Ribera del Duero, Spain
It is the Vega Sicilia flagship. The qualities of the Tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon in different proportions are assembled to perfection in this wine. Each provides a differentiating factor that makes the wine great in every vintage.
The vines are grown on plots where the land is located at the point between the slopes down from the wasteland and the alluvial plain. The soil nearest the surface is made out of fine colluvial deposits from the hillside with small fragment of limestone. There is abundant quartz gravel deeper down in a sandy main soil. There are many angular limestone boulders on the surface.
Red wine made in controlled fermentation using native yeast in wooden tanks. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in wood.
After its fermentation, its goes through what is probably the world's longest ageing of a red wine, almost 10 years between wood and bottle. The different stages take place in different types of barrel: American and French wood, new and used 225-litre barrels, 20,000-litre vats, each batch is what determines the type of wood and the time spent in each container.
After the stage in the wood, it is aged in the bottle to complete a long and complex ageing process. It will normally spend 6 years in wood and three in the bottle.
The different elements in its preparation are fine-tuned in the search of the master line that has guided the wine. Único remains true to a clear and well-defined style, with an inimitable character and style; elegance, strength, ageing capacity... A unique and timeless taste that has elevated it to among the aristocracy of the great classic wines.
It offers an infinite complexity that is gradually revealed, in every sip, the palate immensely silky and elegant, and has an ageing capacity that only a handful of wines in the world can claim.
MORE THAN A WINERY
There are people who believe that the myth of Vega Sicilia was due to its being an aristocratic wine, in scarce supply, and only within the means of a fortunate few; an object of desire that only a privileged minority could enjoy. However, what many do not know, is that the real origin of the legend lies in a story of hope, commitment and patience on the banks of the River Duero, as it runs through the heart of Castilla, where the river laps against and nourishes a unique and exceptional, nearly magical estate.
This wise, hard, gnarled and barren land was destined to something great. It had to join forces with time to fulfil its great dream: to give the best of itself, achieve extraordinary crops that would fill it with pride and show off the splendour of nature. Yet, to do so, land and time needed man's help. Someone to be their eyes and hands andfarm in line with nature's rhythms. As only in that way, when we are humble enough to accept nature's way, do we achieve exceptional results.
Centuries passed waiting for someone to listen to the call of this magical land. And very few people have the gift to see further, to listen to what others hear, to feel what others do not feel. Until one day, fate brought along a man who listened to its call, a man who followed his intuition and change the traditional crop of cereals for the best vine stocks of the 19th century. A man who knew how to learn from nature, patiently respected its rhythms, looked after the land and protected time, thus achieving a perfect balance.
Autumn was the time of the grape harvest and the land could, after all, begin to dream, for which it was pre-destined; the grapes proved to be of an unrivalled quality and personality and, after maturing in the silence and solitude of the winery, became one of the greatest legends of the history of wine. Vega Sicilia was finally born
Details:
| Grape(s) | Tinto fino, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Farming | Sustainable |