Vega Sicilia "Unico" Ribera del Duero DO 2013
(Castilla Leon, Spain) - [JS 98] [WE 98] [WA 97] [WS 96]

Notes from the Winemaker:
Of the almost 1,000 hectares that make up the Vega Sicilia estate, 210 are allocated to the cultivation of vines, with nineteen different types of soil and fifty-five plots with very specific features. In the extraordinary management of these soils, the influence of the course of the Douro River and the passage of time have been crucial.

Forty of these hectares are used to produce Unico, which is aged for a minimum of ten years between barrel and bottle, one of the longest ageing processes in the world. We use French and American oak in new and used 225-litre barrels and 22,000-litre vats. A long and complex construction of the wines, but at the same time simply marvellous, in which they gain a myriad of nuances, precise texture and wonderful depth over time. Thanks to this incredible terroir and unique ageing process, our wines become eternal when they age.

2013 is a subtle, elegant, fresh, vertical, complex, silky, and well-defined vintage. This wine is a true paradox, enjoyable to drink now, but timeless when allowed to age in bottle.

Alcohol by volume: 14%

Variety: 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Cabernet-Sauvignon

Average age of vineyard: 33 years

Vineyard surface area: 210 ha (Finca Vega Sicilia)

Planting density: 2,222 plants/ha

Altitude: 700 - 900 m

Yield: 3,600 kg/ha - 25.2 Hl/ha

Harvest: Hand-picked in 12 kg crates from 27 September to 17 October

98 Points - 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 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
Inky garnet to the eye, this wine has a bouquet of blackberry and bittersweet chocolate. It simultaneously offers refinement and power on the palate, with plush tannins that increase in volume and drift away, while purple plum, Mission fig, mocha and star-anise flavors with a hint of mint tea gently ply the palate. Drink through 2043.

97 Points - 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. Drink 2023-2035."

96 Points - 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.