Product Information

Vega Sicilia Valbuena 1999, Ribera del Duero

Jamie says: "Vega Sicilia Valbuena 1999 is a very strong effort from the legendary Spanish estate.  The nose shows mineral-edged fruit, with a toffee edge with some sweet oak aromas. Lovely palate - full of rich, powerful, pure black fruits,  fine silky texture with arich character.  This wine benefits from the fact that no Unico was made in this year so fruit normally reserved for the top wine is used in the Valbuena instead."
Price: £105.00

Colour: Red
Region: Ribera del Duero, Spain
Grape: Tempanillo, Merlot & Malbec
Size: 75cl
ABV: 14%

 Tweet about this product - just click below:

Tweet

Recommend www.oldchapelcellars.co.uk on Facebook - just click below: 

Vega Sicilia profile - Vega Sicilia makes truly special wines.  Vega Sicilia are regarded as Spain's “first growth” estate.

The origins of the Vega Sicilia winery go back to 1864 and by 1915 the estate had launched two wines: "Vega Sicilia" and "Valbuena", both wines characterized by a lengthy period of time in wooden vats.

The Vega Sicilia estate is located in the "Valbuena de Duero" bordered by the river to the north and woodlands to the south. Here the continental climate is tempered by the Atlantic ocean and the Duero River, whose mists create humidity. Of the 1,000 hectares, 240 are under vine on a clay-limestone soil, 80% of which is planted with the indigenous Tempranillo; the remainder French varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec.

Like all great wines, Vega Sicilia begins in the vineyard. The Tempranillo is trained in gobelet fashion, whereas the French varieties are trained in a Guyot.  Green harvesting is employed ruthlessly in order to control yields, and the harvest itself is meticulous, hand harvesting is of course employed.  Both the Vega Sicilia Único & Valbuena 5° spend a lengthy period of time in barrel, a minimum 3½ years for Valbuena 5° and 5 years for Único. Vega Sicilia has its own coopers and we were told that usually 60% originates from French oak and 40% from American.

In the winery, such a massive wine will withstand many years in wood and Unico sees a complicated series of rackings from huge barrels to new oak, to used American oak, back to new oak again, and on it goes. Vega Sicilia Único is commercially released a decade after the vintage and not necessarily in chronological order (for example the 1990 was released before the 1991.) The Unico usually has a higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon than Merlot that lends the wines its structure and longevity. Sometimes the Único is declassified and is blended into the Valbuena, depending on the quality of the vintage.  The Vega Sicilia range has three cuvees:  Unico ("unique"), which is always of gran reserva quality, and a fascinating non-vintage blend named Reserva Especial. In addition there is a second wine, Valbuena 5°. This is always of reserva quality, the 5° designates that the cuvée has been aged for five years before release.

Although there is great respect for tradition at Vega Sicilia, there is also innovation. Most notably, the purchase of the nearby Alion estate so that Vega Sicilia could also produce a high quality wine for drinking young, without detracting from the fruit supply for Unico. Hopefully Vega Sicilia will continue with this combination of tradition and innovation.