Vega Sicilia: producer profile and latest releases tasted

Vega Sicilia is the granddaddy of Spain’s grands crus. With more than 150 years of history, through phylloxera, Civil War and economic upheaval, it was a favourite of Spanish Kings and it continues to reign.

Scroll down to see Sarah Jane Evans MW’s Vega Sicilia tasting notes and scores

Its ownership has changed over the years from the days of Eloy Lecanda, who founded the winery in 1864.

Since 1982, the ownership has been with the Alvarez family, and the leadership with Pablo Alvarez. The Ribera del Duero DO was created in the same year. Thus, the estate in Valbuena de Duero, sitting on the ‘Golden Mile’, is conveniently just inside the DO boundary.

It was obviously an essential step in the creation of the new DO to draw on the prestige of Spain’s most famous wine.

The Vega Sicilia estate covers some 1,000 hectares of which 250ha are given over to vines. Amongst other plantings across the property Alvarez has introduced cork trees, which he hopes that his successors may one day be able to use in bottling their wines.

The family home boasts beautiful gardens – the Japanese Garden is a particular delight in the midst of Ribera del Duero.

When I visited in the summer of 2021, on the first of my post-Covid confinement travels, Alvarez and his wife Elisa Kwon talked of how much they had been able to enjoy their surroundings with their small daughter, despite the enforced lockdown.

Grapes and wines

As a producer of fine wines, Ribera del Duero in general is not renowned for its diversity.

Predominantly the wines are red, and essentially they are made from the Tinto Fino variety, a version of Tempranillo adapted to the extreme winters and summers of the continental climate, and to the altitude (up to 900m).

In contrast, from early times Vega Sicilia had many more varieties, bought from Bordeaux, most notably Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Today Valbuena contains Merlot in the blend and Unico Cabernet Sauvignon.

The contemporary Vega Sicilia divides itself into three wines. The pyramid begins with Valbuena, aged for five years in oak and bottle, hence its formal name: Valbuena 5°.

The summit Unico, is typically aged for almost 10 years, all in barrels and vats of different sizes and in bottle before release.

Then, standing apart, is the fascinating Unico Reserva Especial, a blend of vintages, in a reference to the traditional winemaking practice of selecting and blending the best and most representative vintages.

In the nearby DO of Toro I recently spotted two amphoras in a winery which also contained multi vintage blends. They are not permitted in that DO yet. One of the regulators’ understandable doubts is that less scrupulous producers will use the technique to blend together unsold wines and sell them at a higher price. However that is not the case with Vega Sicilia, where the wine has a real pedigree.

Personality and progress

As we tasted through the wines in the house, Alvarez commented on the focus on working in the vineyard. (Visit @temposvegasicilia on Instagram for plenty of excellent images and videos.) He also considered his role as custodian: ‘We follow a line above fashion. We cannot interfere with the personality of the wine; our success comes from its personality.’

The striking thing about every visit is just how the winery has kept on changing. The same precision in the vineyard is reflected in the winemaking. While Vega Sicilia has always needed kilometres of fermentation tanks (stainless steel for Valbuena) and vats (wooden for Unico), the multi-plot management and the attention to detail puts it on a par with top Bordeaux or Napa.

There’s a neat and scrupulous system for washing and restacking the distinctive white crates for the pickers, before sending them out in the vineyard again.

The parade of oak for ageing is remarkable: as it should be for wines that are all about oak management and being built to last. There’s a cooper tucked round the corner on site. Also, perhaps not surprisingly, very obvious security for this precious investment.

Winemakers

Since 1968 Vega Sicilia has had three winemakers. The first was Mariano García (1968-1998), who works with Aalto in Ribera del Duero, and with his sons now has a family of wineries: Mauro (Castilla y León), Garmon (Ribera del Duero), San Roman (Toro), as well as most recently in Rioja. His successor was Xavier Ausàs, who now has his own eponymous winery.

The present incumbent is Gonzalo Iturriaga, who took over in 2015 and whose smiling countenance gives the impression of still not quite believing his good fortune to be at Vega Sicilia, and communicates his wines with real enthusiasm. García was – still is – a real force of nature. Ausàs had a quieter style.

Now Iturriaga has had to carry the burden of responsibility. Tempos Vega Sicilia has transferred fairly smoothly to the social media age in terms of Instagram, and Iturriaga fits well into the less formal communication style demanded now even of the greatest houses.

There’s more to Vega Sicilia than Vega Sicilia of course, hence the Tempos Vega Sicilia group name. In terms of white wines, experiments continue locally, and there was consideration of investing in Burgundy. For the time being though, the only releases of dry white wine are in Tokaji, at their Oremus winery.

As for red wines, there’s the second winery in Ribera del Duero, Alión (founded 1991). Another in Toro: Pintia (2001), and a long-awaited appearance in Rioja as a joint project with Benjamin de Rothschild (launched in 2009).

In Rioja the wines from such prestigious names were launched in the headlights of press attention and subjected to inevitable criticism. Now with over a decade of experience, and a new winery fully in place, their project in Rioja looks to be coming into its own. Indeed, across all these wines one can observe the benefits of progressive changes in oak management, more subtle use of oak. Nothing to upset the grandest of grands crus, and its fans, but just a gentle tweak.

Latest releases

• Vega Sicilia, Pintia, Toro 2017
• Vega Sicilia, Alión, Ribera del Duero 2018
• Vega Sicilia, Valbuena, Ribera del Duero 2017
• Vega Sicilia, Unico, Ribera del Duero 2012
• Vega Sicilia, Unico Reserva Especial, Ribera del Duero 2022
• Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia, Macán Classico, Rioja 2018
• Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia, Macán, Rioja 2017
• Vega Sicilia, Oremus Mandolás Dry Furmint, Tokaji 2019
• Vega Sicilia, Oremus Petracs, Tokaji 2018

The wines here were tasted effectively en primeur and will be released in the UK and USA on 1 January.

I am excited to note that in 2022 Tempos Vega Sicilia is also releasing some back vintages: Unico 2002, Valbuena 2012, Alion 2015 and Pintia 2014.

See Sarah Jane Evans MW’s Vega Sicilia tasting notes and scores

Wines are presented in the same order as above

Related content:

Ribera del Duero: eight producers to watchRibera del Duero: Top wines to buy now