The changing face of Vega Sicilia Valbuena

Sarah Jane Evans MW looks at 'little brother' Valbuena, from one of Ribera del Duero's leading estates, Vega Sicilia...

Valbuena 5° may be seen as the little brother of Vega Sicilia’s flagship wine, Único, but it’s not actually little at all: in the years that Único isn’t made, the fruit will go to Valbuena.

Named after the nearby village of Valbuena de Duero, the ‘5°’ refers to the age of the wine, released after five (quinto) years of barrel and bottle age. There was formerly also a Valbuena 3, now discontinued.

The vines used for Único and Valbuena comprise 140 out of the estate’s 210ha under vine. This vineyard area is made up of 52 individual plots, sorted by a combination of soil type, grape variety and vine age.

Today, the average age of these vines is around 35 years, although technical director Gonzalo de Iturriaga argues that the soil is more important – following a detailed survey, 19 different soil types have been identified on the estate.

Replanting takes place with massal selection from their own vineyards; all bush vines at 2200-3000 vines per hectare.

Scroll down for Sarah Jane’s Valbuena 5 tasting notes & scores

The tasting

I recently had the opportunity to compare several vintages of Valbuena 5° at a tasting hosted by Berry Bros & Rudd, revealing how it’s building its own independent personality apart from Único and its neighbour Alion.

This vertical covered a lot of history, including the work of no less than three different winemakers: 1995 was from the hands of the longstanding Mariano García, the majority of the wines from Javier Ausás, and Gonzalo de Iturriaga arrived in time to blend the 2013.

Technical director de Iturriaga commented that you can taste the vintage variation in Valbuena, whereas Único, only made in the best years, is less likely to reveal its vintage differences.

However, to lessen the impact of this variation there’s ever more technology to protect the vines from the fierce continental climate, such as helicopters in the vineyards to help the vines against the frost.

A key feature of Valbuena in the new winery (opened in 2010) is the complex handling of different sizes, types and ages of oak vats and barrels over the course of 30 months or so. This continues to be an evolutionary process, with the possibility of less new oak in the future.

The Valbuena 5 vertical:

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