Wine Advocate
byLuis Gutierrezthe12/30/2019
I was surprised by the aromatics of the 2010 Único, cropped from a powerful and concentrated year that delivered this blend of 94% Tinto Fino (aka Tempranillo) and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 14.5% alcohol and a highish pH of 3.87. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in a combination of French and American oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats and aged for almost six years. It feels quite ripe and somehow old style, dominated by ripe black fruit, with a rustic and earthy touch. It has an ample palate, concentrated and powerful, with some earthy tannins. 85,185 bottles, 3,362 magnums, 228 double magnums and 36 Imperials were produced. It was bottled in June 2016.
At Vega Sicilia they have increased the capacity to age wines with more 40,000-liter oak vats. The Único released in 2020 will be the 2010, a vintage that raised high expectations. This year I was pleasantly surprised by the Reserva Especial, which despite the fact that the blend is of recent-ish vintages, it seems to have inherited the character of the wines from yesteryear.