Vega-Sicilia New Release Launch Tasting – 26th November 2019
Vega-Sicilia New Release Launch Tasting 26th November 2019
These wines will be available to purchase on 4th December
The prices were provided by the shipper and they are ‘in bond’ RSPs
2016 Macán, Clásico, Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega-Sicilia, Rioja, Spain
This is the first Macán Clásico which I have actually liked and that I feel I can recommend. Having said this, I still feel that there is an awful lot more to come from this label. The palate is particularly fruit-driven and juicy and this somewhat distracts from the sour finish, but at least there is obvious, if not complex, fruit on show. Forward-drinking, atypical for this label and stuffed with cassis in the mid-palate, this is a curiously alluring wine. 17/20 £150ib per 6 bottles
2015 Mácan, Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega-Sicilia, Rioja, Spain
Oaky and spicy with gruff tannins and a tight feel throughout, this is a difficult wine to enjoy and the obvious oak and sappy tannins do nothing to lighten the mood. It will need ages to soften and, frankly, I am not sure that it will ever fall into harmony, so I would avoid this wine. 16+?/20 £264ib per 6 bottles
2015 Pintia, Tempos Vega-Sicilia, Toro, Spain
Wild and spicy, as expected, but a little too sour and blunt on the finish, this seems like a regressive step for this wine after the beautiful 2014 vintage last year. There doesn’t seem to be enough flesh to balance the more astringent elements of this wine but it will move with time and I expect it to resemble a powerful Pintia in due course, and that is what people want from this wine, so they won’t mind. I am just a little disappointed that this 2015 has not built on the glamour of the 2014. 17+/20 £198ib per 6 bottles
2016 Alión, Tempos Vega-Sicilia, Ribera del Duero, Spain
Opulent and open with a generous nose and demonstrative palate, this is a stunning Alión and it is already plain to see that this is going got be a star. There is a huge whoosh of cassis here and it is perfectly balanced with fit, mouth-watering tannins. When Alión is on form, I don’t feel the need to climb the ladder any further, because it hits the Vega button while giving one a more flirtatious and forward-drinking experience and this is genius. In this year’s release, there is every reason to climb the ladder, as you will see when you read on, but I will be staying here and also buying this wine, too, because it is genuinely superb. 18+/20 £288ib per 6 bottles
2015 Vega-Sicilia, Valbuena No. 5, Ribera del Duero, Spain
Tough and very youthful with very intense tannins and little fruit in evidence, this is a hard wine to appreciate and I cannot see it softening for a decade or more. I rarely write the word ‘difficult’ about wine, and I don’t think wine should be difficult, so while I am sure that this vintage will look suitably statesmanlike given time, it will always have a raw edge. 17.5++/20 £267ib per 3 bottles
2010 Vega-Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain
This is a spectacular Único and it draws on old school triggers coupled with a gorgeous, intense, warm-climate, swarthy core. Claret-like in its detail with leather, tobacco and parchment tones scattered liberally throughout the sleek, dark fruit, this is a wine which shows great balance in spite of its scale and there is already enough nobility on display for me to award it a mighty score. 19+/20 £672ib per 3 bottles
2020 Vega-Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial, Ribera del Duero, Spain
Made from 2008, 2008 and 2010 vintages, this is the very first Reserva Especial that I can confess to actually wanting to drink. Super-concentrated, loaded with bristling tannins and masses of attitude, this wine boasts slightly scary dimensions, but in reality it is just a inky black vinous Zeppelin just about to lift off. I would love to see this wine again in ten or fifteen years because I venture it will look like nothing else on earth. 18.5+/20 £876ib per 3 bottles
