Vega Sicilia Unico Ribera del Douro 2015

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 4 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.

Grape Varietals:

96% Tinto Fino and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon

2015 Vintage:

Unico undergoes an extraordinary ageing process: more than ten years in oak and bottle. In its undisturbed slumber, this inimitable wine creates a timeless cellaring perspective. Like its name, this unique wine is a tribute to the Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards of the Vega Sicilia estate.

The 2015 vintage ripened quickly, evenly and exceptionally well. It was essential to harvest the grapes al dente, when they were crisp, fresh and juicy, to avoid over-ripening. This vintage was a special one for Gonzalo Iturriaga. "It was my first at Vega Sicilia," explains the winemaker. "I understood that there is something genuine in the Vega Sicilia estate, because when I taste the grapes I sense the concentration, the power, but also the elegance and silkiness. That's the basis of a great wine. When you taste that concentration, you understand the need for the unique ageing that we do at Vega Sicilia: five years in oak, with a first stage of about one and a half years in barrels to shape the wine, and a second stage of about three and a half years in oak vats to give the wine a whole new dimension.

The 2015 vintage is expressive from the first moment. On the palate, it is generous, opulent and juicy, while retaining the estate's trademark elegance. This wine taught me why Vega Sicilia is so great."