Offered APR 24th, 2017

Vega Sicilia was founded in the 1860s by Eloy Lecanda y Chaves, a Spanish winemaker who was trained in Bordeaux. When he returned to his homeland of Castile, he planted his vineyard with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo and Malbec. The extensive use of Bordeaux varieties was unusual in the Ribera del Duero at the time, and though future plantings have focused more on Tempranillo, nearly 40% of Vega Sicilia’s vineyards are still planted with traditional Bordeaux varieties, including nearly 25% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon alone.

The winery is noted for its patience in winemaking, and willingness to age their wines in the barrel and bottle for many years until it fits the house style – depending on the vintage, the wine could be held for decades until it is released. Vega Sicilia has maintained a clearly defined style, producing concentrated, mature, generous and extremely elegant wines.

Vega Sicilia Unico 2005
24 bottles available
$315 per bottle

96 points Wine Advocate: “Neal Martin had already tasted the 2005 Único in 2012, before I joined The Wine Advocate, but then they released 2007 and 2008 before and the 2005 has been kept until now, as they thought the vintage required some more time in bottle. It’s mostly Tempranillo with some 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented with indigenous yeasts in oak vats and aged for almost six years in 225-liter French and American oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats. The extra time in bottle has helped the wine to develop its bouquet, and it feels very aromatic and open, with the classical Vega Sicilia perfume of yesteryear, earthy, leafy and spicy, even if they wine was kept because of its power. It’s still powerful, but at the same time it’s elegant and has a polished mouthfeel and fine-grained tannins.”