Vega Sicilia - Unico 2000 (3L)
Price: $2250.00
Producer | Vega Sicilia |
Country | Spain |
Region | Castilla Y Leon |
Subregion | Ribera del Duero |
Varietal | Tempranillo |
Vintage | 2000 |
Sku | 3175 |
The bedrock is schistous: the same rock that underlies the Port vineyards of the Douro further downstream. The topsoil is chalk-based, very pale and quite sandy.
Vega Sicilia Description
Wine:
The Unico Tinto is the Vega Sicilia flagship. The qualities of the Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon in different proportions are assembled to perfection in this wine. 40 hectares are used to produce Unico, with at least ten years of aging, in both barrel and bottle, considered to be one of the world's longest. French and American 225-litre oak barrels, new and used, 20,000-litre tanks; a long and complex process, that makes these wines outstanding when released and eternal when aged. Tinto Fino, supplemented with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, from vines of an average 35 years old.
Producer:
Out of the nearly 1,000 hectares that make up the Vega Sicilia estate, 210 are used to grow vines. Our vines are in soils with very specific features, where the influence of the flow of the River Duero and the passing of time has been essential. Vines having been grown on the Vega Sicilia estate for over hundred years, which makes it possible to obtain a specific plant matter and genetic make-up. All this, together with the extremely careful and respectful handling of the vines and of the environment, makes it possible to produce unique vines.The vine is the cornerstone for Vega Sicilia of its winemaking. Everything begins with the vine and that is what establishes the qualities and specific features of the wines that will be, subsequently, ratified here in the winery.
Wine Enthusiast: 95 Points
Like liquid silk, it’s so smooth and supple. Aromas of fresh mountain herbs pour forth from the glass along with the scents of cherry, cough drop and dried spices. Very light on its feet with pronounced elegance as opposed to raw power. The palate is sleek and feminine, with flavors of dried red fruits, raspberry and light medicinality. Spectacular as per usual, with 85% Tempranillo and 15% Cab Sauvignon.
Stephen Tanzer: 95 Points
Deep red. High-pitched aromas of redcurrant, dried cherry, potpourri and spicecake. Silky in texture and alluringly spherical, offering seamless red fruit and floral pastille flavors and late notes of blood orange and Asian spices. Nothing heavy or fat here and yet this delivers the impact of a large-scaled wine. The finish is expansive and extremely persistent, leaving notes of rose and sweet red fruits behind. I find this to be drinking extremely well now but have no doubt that it will live a long life on its balance.
Wine Advocate: 93 Points
The millennial Unico was tasted twice in January and June 2012. It has a Bordeaux- inspired bouquet that demonstrates more austerity than the 2004 with herbaceous notes infusing the brambly black fruit: smoke, forest floor, wild mint and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with bright blackberry, strawberry and Morello on the entry. It is extremely well balanced and more feminine than the nose suggests. There is also impressive tension and vivacity towards the finish. There is great backbone here, a solid and obdurate Unico at the moment, but it will surely mellow in bottle. 108,536 bottles produced.
Wine Spectator: 92 Points
Firm and elegant, this red is lean but dense, with dried cherry, tobacco, vanilla, licorice and leaf flavors, complex and harmonious in the traditional style. This is not showy, but has depth and length.