Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial Release 2022 (2008,2010,2011)

Bodegas Vega Sicilia is one of the absolute top ten of the wine world and has long been an icon of wine country Spain. Founded in 1864. still very much alive, moreover leading in terms of quality and one of the most modern wine companies in the country. This is partly due to the current owners, the Alvarez family, who bought Vega Sicilia in 1982 and since then, with unrelenting investments, in better and worse times, have improved the quality of both the vineyard and the bodega. At the same time they bought properties in Toro, Pintia and in Ribera del Duero, Alion.

The Vega Sicilia Especial is yearless wine is a blend of actually the best barriques Unico with the aim of making an extremely consistent wine and a master in this in Vega Sicilia. The NV Único Reserva Especial 2022 Release is a blend of wines from 2008, 2010 and 2011, mainly Tinto Fino with some Cabernet Sauvignon mixes of the Único wines from those years. The blend used to consist of older vintages, but now they are wines that are about the same age as the Único. It has the complexity of mixing terroirs, vintages and grapes with parameters very similar to Único, 14.5% alcohol and a good balance with a pH of 3.83. In the blend they try to keep the style of previous blends. preserved, combining the more aged notes of the older wines with the freshness of the younger ones. This release 2022 Reserva Especial goes back to the style of the past with more finesse, elegance and nuance. This Especial 2022 is perfumed, elegant, harmonious and balanced. It has very fine, already polished tannins and integrated acidity. 2008 and 2010 are cooler years, and they seem to give the blend this freshness and elegance. It has all the cell elements and balance to have a long life. The wines received 98/100 Parker and 99/100 points from Suckling

Vegetarian Sicily
Spain's undisputed equivalent of a Premier Cru is Vega Sicilia. Since the planting of the first grape vines about a century and a half ago, the bodega has acquired an enormous reputation. Vega Sicilia is particularly renowned for the concentration, longevity and unique character of its wines. After the establishment of the Denomination of Origin in 1982, Vega Sicilia is part of the DO Ribera del Duero.

Grape varieties
The estate on the Duero River is a thousand hectares. Of this, two hundred hectares are planted with grapevines. The majority is tinto fino, the local variant of the tempranillo. But there are also sticks with cabernet sauvignon, malbec, merlot and even albillo, a local white grape variety. The tinto fino and albillo grow in gobelet form, while the Bordeaux varieties are guided in guyot along iron wire.

Patience
Nine years ago, a small area was also planted with the grape varieties Chardonnay, Viognier, Marsanne and Rousanne. It will be a while before we can see white Vega Sicilia: Vega only wants to release wine from older vines.

Late harvest
The soil in the area is strongly calcareous with a sediment of clay and pebbles. There is a typical continental climate with warm days and, even in summer, cold nights. This is due to its location: seven hundred meters above sea level. That is why the grapes are harvested very late in the season and have a lot of time to form aromas. Often the harvest is not brought in until mid-November.