Tempos Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial (2021 Release)
-
Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This is a non-vintage Vega Sicilia that pays tribute to tradition. Unico Reserva Especial 2021 is a blend of vintages 2009, 2010 and 2011.
This wine is suitable for drinking now, but it can be stored for 40-60 years in optimal conditions.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
If you wonder how a single wine comes to define the character of a region—if not an entire country—spend some time with Unico Reserva Especial. Native to Valladolid, grown near the town that was once the center of Castilla y León and the seat of the kingdom of Spain, the wine’s particular interaction of strength and elegance provides a window into the Castilian soul. The vines that provide the fruit for Unico rise up a north-facing slope, the escarpment at the edge of a high plateau that was once a lake bed, its sediments combining sand and clay flecked with crystalized gypsum, soils that sustain generations of vines ranging from 40 to 60 and 80 years old. This 2021 bottling of Reserva Especial combines 59 barrels selected from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 vintages of Unico. The skeleton of the wine is built out of that lake-bottom soil with its glinting facets of gypsum; the scent of the wine is built out of the complexity of fruit from old vines—rose garden, cigar box, red spices and deep red currants. Reserva Especial sustains its fresh succulence for a week after the bottle is first opened, allowing you to enjoy its increasing depths, layering earth, fruit and sun into a wine of substantial beauty.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As has happened in the last few years, the NV Único Reserva Especial 2021 Release is composed of wines of around 10 years of age, in this case 2009, 2010 and 2011, with 2011 being the Único vintage released at the same time as this non-vintage blend. It's a tribute to the tradition and the past times, a blend of mostly Tinto Fino, the local strain of Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, and a little Cabernet Sauvignon where they look for the balance and house style by blending different vintages of Único. There are many similarities with the 2011, which can represent about one-third of the blend. There's a little more development in the aromas, some of those ripe but herbal aromas and a powerful palate but without the elegance of the 2011 vintage bottling, which has more stuffing in the mid-palate. It finishes dry, with some tannins. It's certainly younger and fresher than the Reserva Especial from yesteryear, and they are now trying to hold onto some wine to again give it some older components like in the recent past.
Few wines have a history as distinguished as that of Vega Sicilia. Founded in the 1860’s, its reputation on its flagship vintage has for more than 100 years produced two great wines, each appropriately named "Único."
It was at Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero, two hours from Madrid, that Tempranillo proved its potential for greatness. When the estate's original founder, Don Eloy Lecanda Chaves returned from France with cuttings of Bordeaux varietals, he planted them alongside the indigenous variety, then known simply as Tinto del Pais, or “Country Red”, but today known as Tinto Fino or Tempranillo. Surprisingly, it was the Tempranillo that produced the superior wine.
Today, the market for Vega Sicilia is one of scarcity and increasing demand. Vega Sicilia’s growing fame and desirability is testament not only to the estate’s enduring legacy but to the world’s craving for wines of history and noble bearing. Vega Sicilia's vintage Único, Reserva Especial and Valbuena are such wines.
Notoriously food-friendly, long-lasting and Spain’s most widely planted grape, Tempranillo is the star variety of red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero. The Rioja terms Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva indicate both barrel and bottle time before release. Traditionally blended in Rioja with Garnacha, plus a bit of Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano, the Tempranillo in Ribera del Duero typically stands alone. Somm Secret—Tempranillo claims many different names depending on location. In Penedès, it is called Ull de Llebre and in Valdepeñas, goes by Cencibel. Known as Tinta Roriz in Portugal, Tempranillo plays an important role in Port wine.
Ribera del Duero, Spanish wine region, is located in northen Spain’s Castilla y León region, just a 2-hour drive from Madrid. While winemaking in this area goes back more than 2000 years, it was in the 1980s that 9 wineries applied for and were granted Denominación de Origen (D.O.) status. Today, more than 300 wineries call Ribera del Duero home, including some of Spain’s most iconic names.
Notable Facts Ribera’s main grape variety, Tempranillo, locally know as Tinto Fino, is perfectly suited to the extreme climate of the region, where it must survive scorching summers and frigid winters. Low yields resulting from conscientious tending to old vines planted in Ribera’s diverse soils types, give Ribera wines a distinctive depth and complexity not found in other Tempranillos. Rich and full-bodied, the spice, dark fruit and smoky flavors in a bold Ribera del Duero will pair well with roasted and grilled meats, Mexican food and tomato-based sauces.