1986 | Vega Sicilia | Unico

A silky, seamless package of pleasure. Surprisingly dark color, then mature aromas of spice and cherry, with an elegant, soft palate impression that holds coffee, raisin and cherry flavors. It's balanced and long, with a slightly volatile character.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: For many years, the 1970 Único was the greatest Spanish wine that I had ever tasted, and although this was not the same caliber as the previous perfect example, it remains a fabulous wine. It is a blend of 70% Tinto Fino, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot and Malbec and aged for ten years in barriques. It has a thrilling Bordeaux-like personality on the nose that is more aloof than other vintages. The Cabernet component in the blend is pronounced, forming the backbone and austerity of this wine. However, you cannot deny its power and its breeding, or indeed its obdurate, masculine finish that demands respect. This is a Único you have to look up to, perhaps the sister of Château Latour in this same year.

• John Gilman: The 1970 vintage of Único was one of the longest-held vintages in the cellar at the estate in modern times, as this wine was first released in the late 1990s and was long considered by former Cellar Master, Mariano García, as one of his greatest vintages ever of Único. There was no albillo included in the cépages of the 1970, as the final blend was seventy percent tempranillo, fifteen percent cabernet sauvignon, ten percent merlot and five percent malbec. It spent its first five years in twenty-two thousand liter large vats, but these were of French oak origin, followed by another five year stretch in used barrels prior to bottling. It was then given another sixteen years of aging in bottle before it was finally released! The wine is brilliant and still relatively youthful in its aromatic constellation of black plums, cassis, a touch of youthful tariness, a very complex base of soil tones, cigar smoke, incipient notes of the wide array of spices to come with further bottle age and a lovely framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and absolutely rock solid at the core, with great focus and grip, seamless balance and a long, ripely tannic and amazingly, still fairly youthful finish. It is not that this wine is not eminently drinkable today, but when one realizes the almost timeless potential longevity of the very top vintages of Único.

Producer Information

Vega Sicilia is widely regarded as the greatest wine producer in Spain. The estate in Ribera del Duero is known for its dense, complex red wines made principally from the Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) grape variety. Its top wine, Unico, is one of Spain's most expensive and sought-after wines. The Vega Sicilia estate covers around 1000 hectares (2470 acres) of which around 210ha (520 acres) is under vine. It has been in operation since 1864, long before the development of the appellation in which it resides, and the current wine styles date from the 1910s. Quality has become more consistent since the current owners, the Alvarez family, took over in 1982. The vineyards are planted to around 80 percent Tempranillo with the remainder taken up by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and tiny amounts of Malbec. Yields are kept low, aided by green harvesting and painstaking grape selection. Winery operations are just as meticulous, with a complicated series of rackings from large barrels to barriques, mixing old and new oak and leading to wines that are capable of long aging.

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