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Vega Sicilia Único Ribera del Duero 2013

Reviews

99 -Jane Anson -

Speaking as someone who has tasted many 2013 Bordeaux wines this year, at the 10 Years On point, this is an exceptional example of the vintage, nuanced, compex, light on its feet, singular and utterly delicious. This is what oyster shell salinity means in a wine, so savoury that it has edges of soy, soot, smoke, lightly smoked spice, fattening up to creme de cassis, blackberry pastille and liqourice through the mid palate, concentrated with huge length and grip, and a crushed rose petal finish. Just so good. Waves of flavour keep you glued to the glass. 33 year old vines, planted 2,222v/ha, up to 900 altitude. The ageing process is a thing of beauty also – Unico starts in barrel for the first year, then the blend begins before part of the wine is put back into barrel and other parts into larger casks. At the end of the second year they decide upon the final blend, and back into casks for another three years, racking once a year, then finally into bottle for 4.5 years before release, adding up to somewhere close to 10 years after harvest before it appears on the market (with the magnum version held back until 2015).

98 -James Suckling -

This has a polished and complex nose of poached plums, dark cherries, tea leaves, graphite, milk chocolate and a touch of caramel. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm yet creamy tannins. Caressing, seductive and ripe, but with underlying freshness. 97% tempranillo and 3% cabernet sauvignon. Tasted from magnum. The normal bottle will be released 2023 and the magnum in 2025. Try after 2023.

98 -Wine Enthusiast -

97 -Robert Parker's Wine Advocate -

I had already tasted the 2013 Único from magnum in a vertical tasting of all the magnums ever produced and was quite impressed by it (and the still unreleased 2014 that should be available in 2024). 2013 saw a rainy harvest, and the wine is subtle, elegant and fresh, complex, silky and with precision. The wine matured in 225-liter barrels in an initial phase and then in 22,000-liter oak vats until it was bottled in June 2019. This year, the final blend was 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little less alcohol, 14%, and a pH of 3.78 and 5.2 grams of acidity, fresh and balanced, more elegant and subtler. Único often transcends the character of the vintage and doesn't follow the norm in the region, and the 2013 is a good example of that. It was a very rainy and complicated vintage; they harvested quite quickly to avoid botrytis, and while other people waited for concentration, they did not, and their approach clearly paid back. It's aromatic and floral, less dense than the 2012, subtler, more expressive and more elegant. It's clean and fresh, tasty, with very fine tannins. It's a big surprise for the vintage and one of the finest Únicos in the last few years. 76,476 bottles, 3,658 magnums and some larger formats produced, the shortest crop since 2009.

97 -Tim Atkin, Master of Wine -

96 -Wine Spectator -

Rich and savory at first, with hints of leather, mesquite smoke and fresh earth that transition to underscore the range of black plum, dried mint, spice box and graphite flavors. Firm, chalky tannins are wrapped in a finely woven profile, showing a sense of finesse and overall balance through to the lasting finish. Tinto Fino and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2035. 6,373 cases made, 790 cases imported.

95 -Wine & Spirits -

The 2013 season was relatively mild and dry, at least until harvest, when the rains came on from the end of September through mid-October. The 100 acres of vines for Unico grow on a north-facing hillside, the remnants of an ancient lake bed, its sediments combining sand and clay flecked with crystallized gypsum. The soil’s ability to manage water, along with the vines’ adaptation to the site for 40, 60 or 80 years, delivered a beautiful 2013, a silken pleasure, fragrant with fresh fruit and violet scents. The lasting impression is complex, melding notes of pipe tobacco, black-mushroom umami, red currant, red meat and flamed orange peel. The dry tannins take the gentle well of dark fruits toward tension in the end, making this a keeper.

Technical Details

Blend 97% Tempranillo, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker Javier Ausás
Country Spain
Region Castilla y León
Appellation Ribera del Duero
Vineyard Único is sourced from 40 select hectacres within the 240-ha Vega Sicilia estate vineyards
Farming Method Organic Practices
Oak 12 months in French oak barrels, then blended and aged an additional 24 months in barrel, followed by 36 months in larger casks
Fermentation Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in large wooden vats
Aging / Cooperage Aged a minimum of 120 months; 72 months in oak, followed by a resting period in bottle before release
Alcohol 14%
Production 6,373 cases

Vega Sicilia Único Ribera del Duero 2013

Name: Vega Sicilia Único Ribera del Duero 2013
Brand: First Bottle
SKU: 1014693
Price: 379.0 USD
Availability: InStock

Tempranillo | Castilla y León

JA99, JS98, WE98, WA97, TA97, WS96, W&S95

Organic Practices

$500.00

$379.00

750ML

24% OFF RETAIL!

Founded in 1864, Vega Sicilia is widely regarded as Spain’s first great fine wine estate, and it earned Ribera del Duero its reputation long before the region had any international recognition. Its flagship, Único, is only released after a decade of aging in barrel and bottle, making it one of the most collectible reds in the world. Its sibling Alión is the more modern, fruit-forward expression, made from 100% Tempranillo and aged in French oak, with the same pedigree and a friendlier price.

This is a blend of 97% Tempranillo and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon from a cooler, wetter year that produced an elegant and aromatic Único. Poached plum, dark cherry, tea leaf, graphite, and a hint of balsamic and chocolate lead into a silky, creamy palate with fine tannins and a fresh finish that goes on and on. Jancis Robinson called it the “essence of Vega Sicilia,” and it’s priced WAY below the $500 retail. Hubba, hubba!

About The Producer

Few wines have a history as distinguished as that of Vega Sicilia. Founded in the 1860’s, its reputation on its flagship vintage has for more than 100 years produced two great wines, each appropriately named "Único." It was at Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero, two hours from Madrid, that Tempranillo proved its potential for greatness. 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, then known simply as Tinto del Pais, or “Country Red”, but today known as Tinto Fino or Tempranillo. Surprisingly, it was the Tempranillo that produced the superior wine. Today, the market for Vega Sicilia is one of scarcity and increasing demand. Vega Sicilia’s growing fame and desirability is testament not only to the estate’s enduring legacy but to the world’s craving for wines of history and noble bearing. Vega Sicilia's vintage Único, Reserva Especial and Valbuena are such wines.

$500.00

$379.00

750ML

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