Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5.°, Ribera del Duero 2012
$837.00
In-bond price · duties & taxes calculated at checkout
Drinking window
Drinking now · best from 2026 · will keep to 2042.
Tasting notes
Luis Gutiérrez · Wine Advocate · 95
James Suckling · James Suckling · 94
The depth and intensity to this wine are focused and rich with so much chocolate, coffee and hazelnut character. It is full-bodied and very polished with juicy tannins. Light, angular edge.
Better in 2019 but already beautiful.
Josh Raynolds · Vinous · 93
Aged for five years in new and used French and American oak barriques and vats.
Opaque ruby. Primary dark berry and cherry scents are complemented by suggestions of vanilla, coconut, cured tobacco and cedary oak and accented by a suave floral top note. Sappy, concentrated and expansive in the mouth, it offers sweet black raspberry, cherry-vanilla, and candied liquorice flavours supported by a juicy acidity spine. It unfolds slowly with air, picking up a spicy quality that carries through the long, gently tannic finish, echoing the cherry and coconut notes. Hands off this one for at least a few more years.
Drink 2023 - 2033
Sarah Jane Evans MW · Decanter · 93
A dry, sunny vintage with a resultantly rich and fleshy Valbuena that has a warm lick of alcohol on the finish. It is bold and expressive and has a firm impression of fine oak and a tannic structure. The wine spent part of its second year ageing in barrel, which may account for this. This is the first ever Valbuena to be 100% Tempranillo, as the Merlot, which would usually be in the blend, failed to flourish.
Drink 2020 - 2028
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