Tempos Vega Sicilia: Spain's most thoroughbred stable
If it's Spain, it has to be Rioja... or not. In fact, by far the country's most prestigious winery comes from further to the south west, and the region of Ribera del Duero. The newly rechristened Tempos Vega Sicilia (formerly Bodegas Vega Sicilia) began in the nineteenth century as an attempt to create a Bordeaux-style wine in Spain, but it has long since acquired its own identity - and one of the most prestigious names in the world of wine. This year sees the release of the much anticipated 2005 Unico, the flagship wine and one of the world's greats. The 2005 has deliberately been held back at the winery for two years longer than normal due to the density and structure of the vintage. As well as the 2005 Unico, we are seeing the latest release of the mixed vintage Unico Reserva Especial; the 2017 bottling blends the 2003, 2004 and 2006 vintages for a wine Vega Sicilia consider most representative of the house style over time.
Also released is the 2012 Valbuena. The bodega dislikes Valbuena being described as a 'second wine'; not only is it produced from different plots to the Unico, it is a world-class wine in its own right. 2012 has already proven itself as a delightful vintage in Ribera del Duero, and this is the first vintage ever in which the Valbuena has been released as 100% Tempranillo.
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. In 2013 Alion triumphed against a tricky Ribera vintage to make a perfumed, elegant wine with more subtlety than in some outwardly more straightforward vintages.
Pintia is a relatively recent Vega Sicilia project from the region of Toro, further west. Made from the local Tinto de Toro clone of Tempranillo, it has always been a powerful beast, but ever more successfully tamed by the hallmark Vega Sicilia elegance; the 2012 is the most finely textured bottling to date. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available late spring 2017
