Description
This wine has no vintage, as it blends harvests, and is representative of the more stable concept of Vega Sicilia. With this wine, the winery seeks to continue a very old Spanish custom and bring together the balance of different vintages.
Traditionally in Spain, the few wineries that bottled their wines (most sold their wines from the cask) made two types of wine with each harvest: that of the current year, and another wine without a specific harvest, which was called “Reserva Especial”. It was a blend of wines from the best harvests, which came to be the most representative wine of the winery.
Critical Acclaim
JS98
James Suckling
A red with plenty of blackberry, chocolate, toasted-oak, cedar and hazelnut aromas that follow through to a full body with firm, velvety tannins that are driven and deep. Finishes with black fruit and lots of hazelnut, walnut and almond undertones. Glorious now. A blend of the following vintages: 2009, 2010 and 2011.
V97
Vinous
Deep, glistening ruby-red. Highly perfumed, expansive aromas of crème de cassis, cherry preserves, vanilla, exotic spices and cured tobacco are complemented by suggestions of licorice, cigar box and espresso. Broad, dense and energetic on the palate, offering intense red and dark fruit, floral pastille, succulent herb and floral pastille flavors that show alluring sweetness and sharp focus. Finishes extremely long and smooth, with sneaky, harmonious tannins and lingering suggestions of candied rose, exotic spices and licorice. This is the 2020 release of this multi-vintage bottling. Drinking window: 2025 – 2039.
W&S96
Wine & Spirits
Unico Reserva Especial stands apart. Gonzalo Iturriaga heads up Vega-Sicilia’s winemaking team, which begins to blend lots of Unico in the sixth year of aging. For this 2020 release, the five-member team decided on a blend of wines harvested in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The wine’s dynamic flavor complexity captures the essence of Ribera del Duero in its austerity and grace. It has the flavor of a black fruit that only exists in the tiny berries of ancient vines grown on north-facing hills in the gypsum-rich clay-and-limestone soils of Valbuena de Duero, in the province of Valladolid. It’s a fresh, brisk blend with deep bass notes of mushrooms and leather while scents of rose petals and black plums rise to contrast them. As chewy as a black mushroom, as meaty as grass-fed beef, this lasts with a quiet red-fruit glow, with the freshness of the cold sun. Reserva Especial will develop for decades, and this is a particularly impressive release.
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