Vega Sicilia Unico 2011 in Magnum

Vega Sicilia Unico 2011 in Magnum

Ribera del Duero - Bodegas Vega Sicilia

98/100 James Suckling & 96/100 Parker

Cellaring potential: 2021 - 2033

By Luis Gutiérrez on 2021: "The Único released in 2021, 10 years after the harvest, is the 2011 Único, selected from 40 of their 210 hectares of vineyards. 2011 is a concentrated and ripe vintage, and they selected 95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that were chilled in cold storage for 24 hours before being sorted; the bunches and grapes macerated at 9-10 degrees Celsius for three to four days, then inoculated with a tank foot to ferment with pump-overs. Malolactic was done in stainless steel, and the wine underwent a long ageing process, 10 years from oak to bottle, using new and used French and American oak barrels and 20,000-litre oak vats. For Vega Sicilia, 2011 was a cooler year than 2010, which is not the common idea on these vintages in Ribera del Duero. The wine has a developed nose with some ripe black fruit, meat and undergrowth notes, a little herbaceous and perfumed. There is something in the nose of the Únicos that I can't quite describe but it is quite distinct, and it is in this vintage and also in the Reserva Especial. 88,288 bottles, 3,505 magnums, 318 double magnums, 60 Imperial and 3 Salmanazar were produced. The wine was bottled in June 2017."