Vega-Sicilia is Spain’s most prestigious wine estate and needs little introduction. Their flagship, Unico, is rightly known as Spain's “first growth”. They also produce world class wines Valbuena and Alion from Ribera del Duero and Pintia from Toro. Bold, earthy, primal but poised and balanced, their wines have consistently wowed wine lovers over the years.
Vega Sicila’s Story
The estate was founded in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves who planted the first Bordeaux grapes alongside Tempranillo on the land. 50 years later, under the ownership of Antonio Herrero, the wines won several awards on the international scene, giving the winery its first taste of fame.
Following various ownership, the property was finally acquired by the Alvarez family in 1982 who gave birth to the iconic Unico. Not only the Alvarez gave Vega Sicilia its prestige, they also put Ribera del Duero on the international map. Alongside Unico, they produce an ever-expanding range of wines from Ribera del Duero, Rioja, Toro and Tokaj, in Hungary, that share another great thing... their quality.
Vineyards & Winemaking
They own 1,000 hectares of land in Ribera del Duero with 210 ha dedicated to grow Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvigon and Merlot. The estate is divided in 52 plots, based on the varietal, soil and age of the vines (some being over 100 years old). 140 ha are used to make both Valbuena and Único, and the rest is for Alión. Yields are kept low, and a meticulous soil management and clone selection takes place in order to create unique wines.
Due to the superb quality of the grapes they produce, they can age their wines in oak for longer than most producers (up to 6 years) using both French and American barrels with a variety of age and size to add complexity.
The Growing Season
This year's offer focuses on two outstanding vintages. The crop in 2020 was generous, and despite some summer heatwaves, was saved from over ripeness by welcome September rains. The wines are balanced with great finesse and polished tannins. Winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga said the overall balance and finesse resemble 2011, while the polished tannins recall 2016, his first vintage at Vega Sicilia.
2021 is a year to remember and one of the best in recent times. It was relaxed and textbook in all senses, with snow in the beginning of the year, a mild spring, a relatively cool summer allowing the grapes to ripen to perfection without rain after September. These favourable conditions culminated in wines of exceptional balance and character.
Vega Sicilia’s Latest Releases
Unico 2015
Vega Sicilia’s flagship is a blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon grown on soils rich in quartz, gravel and limestone. Fermented with native yeasts in wooden tanks, the wine is aged for about six years in French and American oak barrels of various size and age, and a further 4 years in bottle before release. Elegant, silky, powerful and age-worthy, Único has an inimitable style, a unique and timeless taste that has elevated it amongst the world’s most sought-after wines.
The 2015 vintage began with a drier-than normal autumn, followed by a rainy winter that replenished soil water reserves. A dry early spring delayed bud break, while lateseason rainfall and the absence of frosts accelerated growth. A warm July ensured healthy bunches, leading to a slightly earlier harvest. Exceptional summer conditions produced grapes with excellent balance, laying the foundation for an extraordinary vintage.
Sit back and enjoy this Unico if you are going to open it now. Exotic spices and touches of balsam and cumin come up after the unleashing of blackberries, chocolate, iron, incense and violets. So fine-grained and polished, with a mouthful of velvety tannins that are so cohesive, close-knit and still reactive. Impeccably structured, it's vertical before going extremely long and linear. A consistent Unico that seduces with a hint of iron-like minerality and rusticity. Drink on release or hold. – 98 points James Suckling
The 2015 Único comes from a year with a fast ripening, and they had to harvest early to keep the crunchiness of the fruit. This was the first harvest produced 100% by winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga. The aging was five years in oak, one and a half years in barrels and three and a half years in oak vats. It's a big year, produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's ripe, with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.88 and 4.8 grams of acidity. The grapes are cooled down for one day, the bunches are selected and then fermented with a pied de cuve in vats. It's a ripe and concentrated vintage, classical modern Vega Sicilia nose, expressive, aromatic and open, with notes of dark cherries, spice, cigar box and a medium to full-bodied palate with abundant fine-grained tannins, with good balance and the rustic elegance of the best Ribera del Duero. In 2015, they produced 84,184 bottles, 3,645 magnums and some larger formats, less than 2014, which was the largest production of Único ever. It was bottled in May 2021. - 97 points Robert Parker
Valbuena 5º 2020
Valbuena, is the purest expression of Tempranillo in Vega Sicilia and is sourced from gentle concave slopes made of calcareous soils. Blend with a small portion of Merlot, depending on the vintage, the grapes are fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks and aged for five years between wood and bottle. The wines are juicy and voluptuous and shows great harmony between elegance, complexity and concentration.
Valbuena 5 used to be the baby Unico, and nowadays it is more like its younger brother with a lot of resemblance and just a bit less depth and tannins. Valbuena 5 comes from younger vines and sometimes different parcels from Unico. On the palate, this is more open and linear, while Unico is more profound and vertical. Notes of iron, blackberries, cedar, minerals and cocoa powder. Medium- to full-bodied with melted tannins and a long, long finish. Drinkable from 2025, but will hold for years. – 96 points James Suckling
The 2020 Valbuena is from a year marked by COVID-19 and lots of rain before the harvest, which resulted in a more ethereal wine, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.9 and 4.45 grams of acidity. It was produced with 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Merlot, cooled down for 24 hours and then fermented with indigenous yeasts from a pied de cuve in stainless steel. It matured in barrel and oak vats during the first year, and in the second one, it aged exclusively in oak vats of different sizes, 8,500 and 21,000 liters. In 2020, the wine is finer-boned, it's more fluid, it's only medium-bodied, perhaps because of the dilution from the rain, and the tannins are fine-grained and polished, but there's less juiciness in the wine. It calls for food. With time in the glass, the wine opens up and becomes more aromatic, and it even seems to gain juiciness and change texture. This is a production of 186,286 bottles, 5,673 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in May 2023. – 95 points Robert Parker
Alion 2021
Sourced from a careful selection of plots across the appellation, and keeping with the vine management criteria that emanate from Vega Sicilia, Alion represents Ribera del Duero’s authentic expression of Tempranillo. Fermented in wooden tanks and aged between 12 and 14 months in new French oak barrels, the wine spend an additional 15 months in bottle before release. The result is an intense, complex and fleshy wine, where the elegance is a distinguishing feature and hallmark of the winery.
A pretty deep but fresh and harmonious wine that can be consumed early. It's from a blend of Ribera del Duero vineyards. Fascinating aromas of fine spices, dark chocolate, dark cherries, blackberries and cedar wood. Medium- to full-bodied with fine, chalky tannins and a lasting finish. Impeccable balance. A textbook Ribera del Duero that gives a panoramic view of the region. Drink from 2025.. – 95 points James Suckling
The vintage released in 2025 is the 2021 Alión, a year to remember, one of the best in recent times; it was relaxed and textbook in all senses, with snow in the beginning of the year, a mild spring disturbed only by frost in Pesquera that didn't affect other villages, a relatively cool summer that slowed things down, and the grapes ripened to perfection without rain after September. They used grapes from 13 different villages throughout the Ribera del Duero, 130 hectares. The grapes are cooled down for 24 hours, and once destemmed, they are put in the oak and stainless steel vats, where they undergo a five-day cold soak and then native fermentation through a "pied de cuve." It has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.81 and 4.8 grams of acidity (tartaric). It's very fresh and fruit-driven, with the balance and elegance of the cooler years, a little austere, with very elegant and polished tannins and a different quality, when the grapes ripen slowly. They believe 2024 has the potential to be like 2021, after the 2022 and 2023 vintages were a lot more challenging. This is a large production of 244,244 bottles, 7,075 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in June 2023. – 96 points Robert Parker
Pintia 2020
Pintia is sourced from the banks of the River Duero, within the Toro DO. The extremely cold winters and hot summers influence its complex soils, which are characterised by pebbles. Aged in French and American oak barrels for 12 months, the wine is deep with great intensity of fruit and offers a good tannic structure and a very friendly, fresh and persistent palate.
Another combination of freshness and profoundness from Toro. Blackberries, graphite, ashtray, sandalwood, cocoa powder and dark olives on the nose. Fresh-veined, chalky tannins tighten the palate, with a nervy backbone. The tannins extend to a lengthy finish. Ripe but fresh. Drink from 2026 – 95 points James Suckling
The 2020 Pintia is from a powerful year of concentration, so they were very careful with the harvest date, did a softer vinification trying to extract less and included amphorae and less toast in the élevage. It's opulent and juicy but gentle. The wine reached 15.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.9 with 4.4 grams of acidity. It fermented in stainless steel and oak vats with indigenous yeasts. It was a very warm and dry vintage in Toro, with a heat wave before the harvest, so they had to rush to pick the grapes; and still the wine is richer and more powerful, even though the amphorae helped them contain the sensation of ripeness in the wine. It has a heady and ripe profile, very aromatic and showy, with notes of very ripe berries, prunes and decayed violets with a faint volatile twist. It matured 70% in new barrels, 10% in used barrels, 10% in stainless steel and 5% in clay pots. It's full bodied and lush, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. It was a ripe and powerful vintage for Pintia, but it evolved nicely in the glass, showing less of its ripe side with time, which to me is a good sign. Some 14,304 half bottles, 209,009 bottles, 6,645 magnums and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in August 2022. - 94 points Robert Parker