Finesse, elegance, power
Spain's very finest
It was the finesse that really struck me. It's not that one doesn't expect that from Vega Sicilia, where sheer elegance goes hand-in-glove with power, but looking back on my tasting notes on this year's releases I see the words smooth, integrated and seamless becoming repetitive. In some vintages Pintia can veer towards the burly, but the 2013 is perfumed, elegant and fast on its feet. Alion is as profound as ever. I swooned at the tissue-like layers of complexity evident in the Valbuena and Unico.
So what's the story behind Spain's finest winery? Bodegas Vega Sicilia (latterly rechristened Tempos Vega Sicilia) was founded in the 1860s in unfashionable Ribera del Duero in an attempt to make Bordeaux-style wines in Spain. Yet after a few false starts, it acquired fame and an identity all its own making wine that has come to be seen as both quintessentially Spanish and among the world's best. This year sees the release of the 2006 Unico, a vintage that has been held back for extra maturation at the winery, as well as the refined but intense 2013 Valbuena. And the 2018 Unico Reserva Especial blends three very different vintages (2005, 2006, 2007) for a whole that is primary, secondary and tertiary.
Alion is its own bodega, founded by Vega Sicilia, and occupying adjacent vineyards (some of which used to belong to Vega Sicilia) but is run autonomously. Vega Sicilia has also reached beyond its Ribera homeland; among the winery's (relatively) newer projects is Pintia, from the region of Toro, further down the Duero valley. Like the other Vega Sicilia wines, Pintia is made from Tempranillo, but here in the form of its local clone, Tinto del Toro; a powerful beast, but here skilfully tamed, with all the mother winery's trademark elegance. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment late spring 2018
