Vega Sicilia Unico (750ml)
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Wine Type
Red Wine
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Size
750ml
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Vintage
2012
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Country
Spain
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Region
Castilla y Leon
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Sub-Region
Ribera del Duero
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Grape
Cabernet SauvignonTempranillo
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Farming Method
ConventionalMost products with this label come from producers who do their best to avoid any intervention at all but it’s possible that some of the aforementioned preventative measures and additions are deemed necessary. Learn More
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ABV
14.5%
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Food Pairing
Aged CheeseLambRoast meats
Vega Sicilia is widely regarded as one of the greatest wine estates in Spain. Located in Ribera del Duero, Castilla Leon. It is known for its dense, complex red wines. Few wines have such a distinguished history as Vega Sicilia, which was founded in the 1860’s.
When the estate’s original founder, Don Eloy Lecanda Chaves returned from France with cuttings of Bordeaux varietals, he planted them alongside the indigenous variety known today as Tempranillo. Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) has always made up the majority of Vega Sicilia wines. By the early part of the twentieth century, the estate’s wines had already become renown outside of Spain. The 1917 and 1918 vintages famously took prizes at the 1929 World’s Fair in Barcelona. The wine was not easily acquired; the owner decided who should get his wine thus creating an aura of mystery and exclusivity around Vega Sicilia. Eventually, the wines were made available to the world, but the status symbol that was Vega Sicilia endured.
In 1982, the estate was purchased by the Alvarez family, who brought with them their business prowess and resources while carrying on Vega Sicilia’s winemaking traditions.
Tasting Notes
Unico is the flagship wine of Vega Sicilia. This is a big, generous wine, with sumptuously ripe fruit, vibrant cherry and redcurrant with notes of cedar. The essence of Unico is its ageing; resulting in well matured tannins and despite its years it retains a youthful freshness. Savour this special wine roast meats, game, lamb or a selection of cheeses.
Method
Vega Sicilia farms 210 hectares of vines and 40 of these hectares are used to produce Unico, their flagship wine. Mostly 95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The vines grow on slopes with soil nearest the surface made out of fine colluvial deposits from the hillside with small fragments of limestone, abundant quartz gravel deeper down and a sandy main soil. There are many angular limestone boulders on the surface.
The grapes are hand harvested and cooled for 24 hours, then fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation happens in stainless steel followed by 18 months aging in a combination of French and American wood; 225-liter oak barrels then a further three years in 20,000-liter oak vats (tinas). The wine was bottled in June 2018. This wine spends at least ten years aging in barrel and bottle, representing one of the longest ageing processes in the world.
2012 was a concentrated year, warm and dry with some rain at the end of September that helped the end of the ripening process of healthy grapes with lots of color and ripe tannins.
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