2011 Vega-Sicilia Unico Ribera del Duero [JS98][WA96][V96][W&S96][WS95]

Producer: Vega-Sicilia 
Region: Ribera del Duero, Spain
Varietal: Tempranillo
Year: 2011 

James Suckling, 98 Points 

"Very ripe with plum, spice and dried-flower aromas, as well as chocolate, fresh flowers and sandalwood. Coffee and hints of meat. Sort of decadent. Full-bodied with round, creamy tannins and an intense, juicy feel. Unique cedar and walnut undertones. So delicious now, but one for the future, too." 

Wine Advocate, 96 Points 

"The Unico released in 2021, 10 years after the harvest, is the 2011 Unico, selected from 40 of their 210 hectares of vineyards. 2011 is a concentrated and ripe vintage, and they selected 95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon that were cooled in a cold room for 24 hours before being sorted; the bunches and grapes macerated at 9 to 10 degrees Celsius for three to four days, and then it was inoculated with a pied de cuve to ferment with pumping overs. Malolactic was in stainless steel, and the wine was put through a long aging, 10 years between oak and bottle, using new and used French and American oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats. For Vega Sicilia, 2011 was a fresher year than 2010, not the common idea about those vintages in Ribera del Duero. The wine has a developed nose with some notes of ripe black fruit, meat and underbrush, somewhat herbal and perfumed. There is something about the nose of the Unicos that I cannot quite describe but is quite distinct, and it's in this vintage and also in the Reserva Especial." 

Vinous, 96 Points

"Deep, shimmering ruby. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe black and blue fruits, vanilla, pipe tobacco, exotic spices, cola and potpourri. Deeply concentrated and energetic on the palate, offering smoke-laced black currant, cherry liqueur, spicecake and mocha flavors that display outstanding clarity and pick up a candied violet nuance on the back half. Polished, steadily building tannins frame the finish, which hangs on with outstanding, mineral- and floral-driven tenacity." 

Wine & Spirits, 96 Points 

"A challenging vintage of Unico, this grew out of a hot season in Ribera del Duero that produced a stalwart, powerful wine. The warmth of the season shows in the initial scents of Moroccan spices and flamed orange zest, the structure powerful, muscular and aggressive when you first pull the cork. Give it time, measured in days, and the layers begin to show, the somber black fruit yielding notes of red, opening to refinement and, ultimately, elegance and restraint. It’s a grand wine with delicacy that carries through into the lasting flavors. A week after the bottle was opened, the wine is completely transformed, its unveiled freshness suggesting decades of life ahead." 

Wine Spectator, 95 Points 

"This concentrated, harmonious red packs in a lot of flavor, with plum, mountain herb, leather and spice notes woven together with cedar and vivid mineral elements tracing along the finish. The tannins are nicely integrated, with good balance and finesse overall. Tinto Fino and Cabernet Sauvignon. *Collectibles*" 

Alcohol: 14% 

*Discounts do not apply to items like this one in the Fine & Rare category. Price and availability in store may vary.