Vega Sicilia, Unico, Ribera del Duero 2004

87% Tempranillo and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasted from magnum. 

A very classy Unico with tight, fine-grained tannins. Savory tar and dried leaves mingle with blackcurrant and wild blackberry, alongside hints of dried oregano. So refined and driven. You can feel the cabernet character shining through. This will go a long way.

Drink or hold

Released in 2014. 87,516 bottles, 2,227 magnums, 156 double magnums and five Imperials. Tasted from magnum.

Sumptuously aromatic with baskets of berries. Arrives in the mouth as promised on the nose. For enjoying already with its plump fruit, layered with sweet spices and a tang of white pepper. The tannins come in smoothly. This vintage is distinctive for being the last to have such a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon 13%). A ‘typical’ winter followed by a mild spring, and warm summer with rain at the right time. 15 months in large-capacity wooden vats, 17 months in new barrels, then another 26 months in large-capacity wooden vats. 

Drink 2022 - 2048

The 2004 Único magnum was a revelation. It's very fine, elegant and balanced, starting to show more tertiary notes and the Vega Sicilia perfume. It's medium to full-bodied with a fine thread and very good balance. You can drink this now, but it should go on for decades. This contains as much as 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. 2,227 magnums were produced. Artwork by Luis Feito.

I attended a once-in-a-lifetime tasting of all the vintages in magnum from Vega Sicilia to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the purchase of the winery by the Álvarez family. It was not a very formal tasting but more of a day of enjoyment and celebration with colleagues from the international press. Food from Celler de Can Roca) was even served during the tasting, so my notes are sometimes very sketchy; but I wanted to take the opportunity to give context to some of the greatest vintages ever mostly 1970 and 1968), tasting all the wines side by side.

Drink 2016 - 2044

Roughly 85% Tempranillo and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; aged for a total of seven years in large oak vats, new small barrels, used small barrels and large oak vats to rest before bottling, in that order.

Inky ruby: doesn't look like a ten-year-old wine. A heady, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, vanilla, pipe tobacco, new leather and potpourri, with a subtle mineral flourish. Spicy, sweet and expansive, offering palate-staining cherry compote and cassis flavours with exotic violet and chewing tobacco qualities. Deepens and gains spiciness on the smooth, gently tannic finish, which lingers with superb focus and tenacity.

Drink 2020 - 2026