Vega Sicilia Único: anniversary vertical tasting of 40 vintages

A recent tasting celebrated Vega Sicilia’s Único, one of the world's most iconic wines. Sarah Jane Evans MW reports from the unique event, where 40 wines stretching back over six decades were all served in magnum.

By Sarah Jane Evans MW

published 28 October 2022

in Tastings

Vega Sicilia Unico — Credit: Vega Sicilia

(Image credit: Vega Sicilia)

Vega Sicilia lies behind the trees at the eastern end of Ribera del Duero’s Golden Mile along the river Duero. It’s just within the Ribera del Duero DO, naturally enough since when the DO was created it could not afford to omit its oldest and most famous bodega.

The DO was created in 1982, with a handful of wineries; today there are more than 300. On 15 April in the same year David Alvarez agreed the purchase of Vega Sicilia. His son Pablo, a young lawyer, became general manager in 1985.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 40 vintages of Vega Sicilia Único

The winemakers have been few across the subsequent 40 years. In situ when Alvarez arrived was Jesús Anadon. In 1985 he handed over to Mariano García, who was winemaker for 13 years, until Javier Ausàs was appointed. Today’s technical director, Gonzalo Iturriaga, has been in post since 2015.

When these wines are kept for so long before release, where does Iturriaga think his influence began? ‘I count from Unico 2013 and 2014 as being part of the work of my team and me,’ he says. ‘Unico 2013 spent three years in our hands and the 2014 spent four years.’

Looking back to the early days in the 1980s, Pablo comments: ‘We were the one-eyed guy in the land of the blind. Vega Sicilia was quite advanced for the age, but it was time for renewal and modernisation… We began by recovering all the vineyards of Vega Sicilia dating back to the 19th century, we carried out the first soil and vine studies.’

In addition herbicides and chemical fertilisers were banned, and a clonal selection of the vines was carried out. The estate covers some 1,000ha. Forty years ago there were just 80ha of vineyards. Now there are 210ha at 700-900m, with 24 different clones of Tempranillo and 19 types of soil across 64 plots. Unico comes from a 40ha plot.

The heart of Unico

Unico is all about ageing – typically it is not released until 10 years after the vintage. The ‘recipe’ changes slightly from year to year but the process involves, as the winery puts it, ‘building the structure of the wine’, moving it from different ages and sizes of oak vats, followed by extensive bottle ageing.

Under iturriaga, since 2015, the approach is changing. ‘We have been building our capacity to age in large-capacity vats,’ he says. ‘That means we are using fewer barrels and more large formats, with the aim of reducing the impact of the wood. This will increase precision and definition in the texture of the wine, as well as give greater complexity.’

In terms of numbers, between 2005 and 2010 the wine spent 18 months in new barrels, 12 months in used barrels and almost 30 months in large format. By contrast 2014 spent 12 months in new barrels, six months in used barrels and 42 months in large format.

Unico is only made in the good vintages. Thus there was no Unico in 2001, 1997, 1993, 1992, 1988, 1984, 1978, 1977, 1971 or 1967, when the wine did not come up to the expected standard. A tip: in those years the fruit will have gone into Valbuena, which should make those Valbuenas a good buy.

Given the breaks in production, this tasting of ‘40 vintages for 40 years’ of Unico in magnum took us back to 1960 (unfortunately the 1964 was corked). The real stars were in the odd-numbered years and especially the 1970s.

The tasting

The tasting took place at the two-times Best Restaurant in the World winner, El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona. It was an extraordinary combination of the grandeur of Vega Sicilia, with the playful artistry of chef Joan Roca, and the astonishing wine service of ‘Pitu’ Roca and his team.

At the first sitting of the morning each taster had 22 wine glasses to taste the even-numbered vintages, plus a water glass and a spittoon. A personalised folder contained a gilded tasting book. With four of us tasting at a round table, there was scarcely room to breathe.

After the break (for delicate canapes in the garden and glasses of Salon 2012) we returned to a further 18 glasses for the odd-numbered vintages, plus a series of little lunch dishes. Complex to handle but all of it delicious.

Six years ago, I was fortunate to be a guest of Vega Sicilia at a similar vertical of Unico at Restaurante Etxebarri outside Bilbao, hosted by the great Brazilian collector Célio Almeida. That tasting was from 2004 and 1960. Astonishing today to compare my scores and notes, and see how little they had changed. These are wines of exceptional longevity.

The generosity of the event started the night before at the Roca brothers’ Mas Marroch. The party of 30 international wine writers and journalists was greeted with glasses of Bollinger RD 2007, and later Bonneau du Martray 2017 Corton-Charlemagne, 2016s of Cos d’Estournel and Léoville las Cases, plus wines from the Vega Sicilia cellar.

The following evening, those of us with the energy were indulged at El Celler de Can Roca with Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2013, Comtes Lafon Meursault-Perrières 2017, and no less than four 2015 Burgundies: Domaine Dujac Bonnes-Mares, Clos de Tart, Comte Liger-Belair Echezeaux, and DRC Richebourg.

Pablo and his wife Elisa Kwon are always exceptionally generous hosts. They were self-effacing too. Apart from an informal speech on the first evening, there were no set piece moments to celebrate 40 years of stewardship and investment.

Under Pablo’s management, Vega Sicilia has grown – and with it what is now the Tempos Vega Sicilia group – from 200,000 bottles in 1982 to 1.2 million in 2021.

The other wineries in the group include Alión (Ribera del Duero) which came in 1991 and Oremus in Tokaji, which is still their only investment outside Spain, in 1993. Pintia (Toro) was added in 2001, followed by Macán – the joint venture in Rioja with Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild – in 2009.

The most recent addition to the portfolio is Deiva in Rías Baixas. Deiva was announced to mark the 40th anniversary. The first harvest in the new winery will be 2023, with the first wine to appear on the market in 2025.

See Sarah Jane Evans MW’s tasting notes and scores for 40 vintages of Vega Sicilia Único

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Sarah Jane Evans MW is an award-winning journalist who began writing about wine (and food, restaurants, and chocolate) in the 1980s. She started drinking Spanish wine - Sherry, to be specific - as a student of classics and social and political sciences at Cambridge University. This started her lifelong love affair with the country’s wines, food and culture, leading to her appointment as a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino for services to Spanish wine. In 2006 she became a Master of Wine, writing her dissertation on Sherry and winning the Robert Mondavi Winery Award. Currently vice-chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine, Evans divides her time between contributing to leading wine magazines and reference books, wine education and judging wines internationally.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 40 vintages of Vega Sicilia Único

The heart of Unico

The tasting

See Sarah Jane Evans MW’s tasting notes and scores for 40 vintages of Vega Sicilia Único

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Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1986

Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1985

Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1983

Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1982

Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1981

Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1980

Vega Sicilia, Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 1979

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