Spain’s Greatest Wine
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The Producer
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The Vega Sicilia winery at night
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The vineyards of Vega Sicilia are situated in the
Ribera del Duero in northern Spain. Don Eloy Lecanda
y Chaves first planted vines here on the fertile
valley floor in the 1860s. Lecanda had previously
worked in Bordeaux and it was Bordeaux varieties that
he planted on his return to Castille: Cabernet
Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec to complement the local
Tempranillo. Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 25% of the
total planting to this day.
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Three wines are produced at this winery (although
another winery next door, dating from 1991, produces
higher volumes of a wine called Alion): Valbuena
5°, Unico and Reserva Especial.
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Valbuena 5° is effectively a second
wine…but what a second wine! The 5° refers
to the fact that the wine is aged for 5 years before
release. It is a blend of Tempranillo and Merlot.
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Unico is the top wine here, aged for a minimum of 10
years in cask and bottle. The blend is generally 80%
Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and it is this
wine that has been referred to as the Château
Latour of Spain.
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The Reserva Especial is multi-vintage blend and does
not appear here.
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In 1997 Vega Sicilia purchased a winery in the nearby
DOC (Denominacion de Origen) of Toro. Here, on a high
plateau, grow ancient Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo)
bush vines. This region is warmer than the Ribera del
Duero and the soils are gravel deposited by the Duero
river. The determination here is to craft as elegant
a wine as possible from this torrid climate. And
succeed they most certainly do!
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