Difficult to say what vintage as the label was very worn, but believed to be in the range seventies to eighties. What a beautiful mature wine it was. Grilled meat, grilled lobster (grilled component together with sweetness), roasted coffee beans (smelled like entering a coffee shop - not the ones in Amsterdam), mushroom, dark plum. On the palate the mushroom character and the game was very present but with an exceptional acidity to keep everything in place. Thanks to Diego for serving this masterpiece.
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Double decanted. Tasted funky and oxidized when first poured. Improved with air. Really blossomed on day 2 in to a beautiful Unico. This bottle, per Vega-Sicilia, was either the 1973 or 1978 bottling.
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Antica Terra Collective Tasting (Brick Hall, Dayton, OR): Coravin pour: Another great wine in this flight! This was the current release that includes 2010, '11 and...not sure what she said was the other... Just a smidge off the 2011 Unico for depth and layers. Balance was there, hedonism was there!
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1988 release, believed to be a blend of 1960/1965/1972. Impossibly young, deeply meaty and smoky, verging on teriyaki, baked sour cherries, damp tobacco and some vegetal matter, a touch of oak still showing somehow. Palate is bright, incisive, and saturating, with plenty of structure remaining, this is not some faded old wine getting accolades for merely surviving, it may not even be fully mature yet. My biggest quibble is that the fruit has a greenish edge to it and the oak accentuates that while not having a lot of fruit sweetness to balance it. Marvelous stuff, what I'd be drinking all the time if I didn't have a mortgage.
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“Hemos seleccionado para su venta 47 barricas de nuestras mejores reservas que hacen un total de 13.680 botellas.” Lote No. 014/00, bottle No. 006773. No indication on the label of the vintages in the blend, probably bottled in or around 2000. Almost Burgundian floral finesse and elegance, well integrated American oak with more than a slight balsamic touch, crushed red berries, real power on the palate, wonderful fruit and freshness, very firm but satiny tannins, long and powerful finish with lots of wood. Unique style, effortless quality.
2016 release comprising of the 96,98 and 02. Smells like a Bordeaux but sweeter, needed the 2 hour decant coz it was very oaky upon popping, best to decant 3-4 hours if you are going drink now, dark inky black in color, very refined and finesse, like a Lafite in terms of silkiness and poise , what a treat! 94+
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Purchased by auction some short time ago, no information on the label apart from No emptor 2342, 48 barricas con 14.400 botellas, lote No 001/99 No de botella 000236, had to activate my wine contact in origin and....., a big surprise, Bodegas Vega Sicilia confirmed: a rare bottle in our days, a mix of the vintages 1970, 1985 and 1990! This for sure is impressive! A mix from two decades! Just pnp in our glasses, a very strong fragrance, raisins, herbs, cigar smoke, black fruit, very young appearance on the palate, a still supporting acidity, therefore a very fresh mouthfeel, fine, delicate, finesse, but all this paired with a superb persistence, some mineralic hints though, ending very long and delicious with a lush fruit, a top bottle, to enjoy now but surely will evolve over the next decade+, ****(*), 96- 98+ potential
90 91 and 94 is the mix here. Definitely young but the wine is still very impressive at this point. Dark garnet color with tobacco, leather and tons of red fruit jumping out. Smooth and will only get more integrated with time. great potential
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a beautiful wine that seems fully integrated with full mouthfeel all the way to the back of the throat. soft raspberry and strawberry notes, very long. the date 1990 is on the southwest corner of the label. wonderful
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Not sure which release, but it was said to contain vintages from the late 60's, so it was probably the 88 or 89 release. Stinky nose - cheese, spice, porty. This is over the hill. Baking spices. Palate is dark porty. Some dark fruit. This is shot and disappointing.
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Especial Blended 1990,91,94. This wine was all I hoped it be. Nose Had a spice box with green grass. Wine processes lots of power. It tastes of burnt asperagas, tobacco with leather. Fruit is wild blueberries, and pear. This wine goes on for a full min. I had opened this after 5yrs in my cellar and enjoyed it on a special day with my wife. I love this wine and hope it find more.
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Much better than my last bottle, which had MASSIVE VA. This bipottle was much better, but still had a lot of VA/ shoe polish, and American oak. Youthful, but I don't want to drink it.
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First time trying this wine... decanted and served towards the end of a good meal. Very clean, smooth and balanced... unlike any other Spanish wine I've tasted. Color was holding up quite well given the blends of 85, 91 and 96... dark ruby core and just a little fading out on the edge. The aromatics were coming together very nicely, just a unique aroma of spice, earth and some fruit (albeit somewhat muted). Very smooth all the way through with a long lasting finish. Nothing jagged or out of line with this bottle... just drinking very well and I would say it has quite a bit of age left in it given how muted the fruit was on this one. This has some real power but married with such great finesse.
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Nose: Egg and buttermilk, some sulfor. Overall very complex and impressive. Taste: Elegant red currant fruit and a very pure, clean and delicious acidity. Some strawberry and even tomato coming through. All about elegance and freshness.
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Spanish Gems from World Class Producers (Caveau, Singapore): The bottle I tried was a blend of the 1985, 1991 and 1996 vintages, released in 1997. A good wine, but completely left in the dust by the profound Unico 1996. While shading garnet at the edges, this still had a dark inky core. The nose was more muted than the absolutely singing bouquet on the 1996. Attractive in its own right though, this showed plush meat and dark fruit scents, wrapped in smoke and coconutty oak. It opened up with time to show more deep, dark cherries and a meatier undertone. Rather more subtle than the Unico, but very classy. Very smooth on the palate, the wine goes down super-easily, with a glide of rather surprisngly fine tannins. Still, it seemed a bit sharper and more angular next to the power and superb balance and elegance of the Unico. Very nice finish, with mocha, nuts, beautiful smokiness and a touch of game. In fairness, this too is very young. The weight and intensity is there in abundance, but all rather tightly wound up at the moment.
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1/20/2024 - aquacongas wrote: 96 Points
semiblind 64/66/70 side by side with unico
Not the concentration as the regular 1970. Maybe a hint over his peak. Less fruit aromas. 96
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10/2/2023 - Philolesen Likes this wine: 95 Points
Difficult to say what vintage as the label was very worn, but believed to be in the range seventies to eighties.
What a beautiful mature wine it was. Grilled meat, grilled lobster (grilled component together with sweetness), roasted coffee beans (smelled like entering a coffee shop - not the ones in Amsterdam), mushroom, dark plum. On the palate the mushroom character and the game was very present but with an exceptional acidity to keep everything in place.
Thanks to Diego for serving this masterpiece.
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1/16/2023 - ekessler wrote:
Double decanted. Tasted funky and oxidized when first poured. Improved with air. Really blossomed on day 2 in to a beautiful Unico. This bottle, per Vega-Sicilia, was either the 1973 or 1978 bottling.
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12/18/2022 - Grinner wrote: 96 Points
Antica Terra Collective Tasting (Brick Hall, Dayton, OR): Coravin pour:
Another great wine in this flight! This was the current release that includes 2010, '11 and...not sure what she said was the other... Just a smidge off the 2011 Unico for depth and layers. Balance was there, hedonism was there!
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5/29/2022 - jhngo Likes this wine: 93 Points
very good fruit and acid.
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1/31/2021 - andtheodor wrote: 94 Points
1988 release, believed to be a blend of 1960/1965/1972. Impossibly young, deeply meaty and smoky, verging on teriyaki, baked sour cherries, damp tobacco and some vegetal matter, a touch of oak still showing somehow. Palate is bright, incisive, and saturating, with plenty of structure remaining, this is not some faded old wine getting accolades for merely surviving, it may not even be fully mature yet. My biggest quibble is that the fruit has a greenish edge to it and the oak accentuates that while not having a lot of fruit sweetness to balance it. Marvelous stuff, what I'd be drinking all the time if I didn't have a mortgage.
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1/16/2021 - robmatic wrote: 95 Points
1988 Release, botella 04361 of 11,640.
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2/23/2019 - Wine Monicat Likes this wine: 75 Points
Venue: Hai Tian Ge
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2/1/2019 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 96 Points
“Hemos seleccionado para su venta 47 barricas de nuestras mejores reservas que hacen un total de 13.680 botellas.” Lote No. 014/00, bottle No. 006773. No indication on the label of the vintages in the blend, probably bottled in or around 2000. Almost Burgundian floral finesse and elegance, well integrated American oak with more than a slight balsamic touch, crushed red berries, real power on the palate, wonderful fruit and freshness, very firm but satiny tannins, long and powerful finish with lots of wood. Unique style, effortless quality.
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11/29/2018 - Tony Ling Likes this wine: 93 Points
PNP into Zalto Burgundy glass (“Fruit” day): Medium ruby with garnet rims.
More advanced nose compared to the other two Unicos tasted tonight. Some oxidative acidic notes but still very much alive and robust.
Nice airy fruits on palate with good acidity and structure. Enjoyable with good minerality and silky tannins. Good length.
93 points.
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5/31/2018 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
2016 release comprising of the 96,98 and 02. Smells like a Bordeaux but sweeter, needed the 2 hour decant coz it was very oaky upon popping, best to decant 3-4 hours if you are going drink now, dark inky black in color, very refined and finesse, like a Lafite in terms of silkiness and poise , what a treat!
94+
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12/24/2017 - fc1910 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Purchased by auction some short time ago, no information on the label apart from No emptor 2342, 48 barricas con 14.400 botellas, lote No 001/99 No de botella 000236, had to activate my wine contact in origin and....., a big surprise, Bodegas Vega Sicilia confirmed: a rare bottle in our days, a mix of the vintages 1970, 1985 and 1990!
This for sure is impressive! A mix from two decades!
Just pnp in our glasses, a very strong fragrance, raisins, herbs, cigar smoke, black fruit, very young appearance on the palate, a still supporting acidity, therefore a very fresh mouthfeel, fine, delicate, finesse, but all this paired with a superb persistence, some mineralic hints though, ending very long and delicious with a lush fruit, a top bottle, to enjoy now but surely will evolve over the next decade+, ****(*), 96- 98+ potential
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1/27/2017 - fatboi Likes this wine: 94 Points
90 91 and 94 is the mix here. Definitely young but the wine is still very impressive at this point. Dark garnet color with tobacco, leather and tons of red fruit jumping out. Smooth and will only get more integrated with time. great potential
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5/22/2015 - MauriceE wrote:
We had the 1985 release.
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2/25/2015 - pointrob wrote: 96 Points
a beautiful wine that seems fully integrated with full mouthfeel all the way to the back of the throat. soft raspberry and strawberry notes, very long.
the date 1990 is on the southwest corner of the label. wonderful
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12/9/2014 - Seth Rosenberg Does not like this wine:
Not sure which release, but it was said to contain vintages from the late 60's, so it was probably the 88 or 89 release. Stinky nose - cheese, spice, porty. This is over the hill. Baking spices. Palate is dark porty. Some dark fruit. This is shot and disappointing.
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7/6/2014 - Jeffrey Silver Likes this wine: 96 Points
Especial Blended 1990,91,94. This wine was all I hoped it be. Nose Had a spice box with green grass. Wine processes lots of power. It tastes of burnt asperagas, tobacco with leather. Fruit is wild blueberries, and pear. This wine goes on for a full min. I had opened this after 5yrs in my cellar and enjoyed it on a special day with my wife. I love this wine and hope it find more.
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6/14/2013 - Chuck Miller wrote:
Much better than my last bottle, which had MASSIVE VA. This bipottle was much better, but still had a lot of VA/ shoe polish, and American oak. Youthful, but I don't want to drink it.
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11/11/2012 - Chuck Miller wrote: flawed
Massive VA
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8/4/2010 - ksimback Likes this wine: 94 Points
First time trying this wine... decanted and served towards the end of a good meal. Very clean, smooth and balanced... unlike any other Spanish wine I've tasted. Color was holding up quite well given the blends of 85, 91 and 96... dark ruby core and just a little fading out on the edge. The aromatics were coming together very nicely, just a unique aroma of spice, earth and some fruit (albeit somewhat muted). Very smooth all the way through with a long lasting finish. Nothing jagged or out of line with this bottle... just drinking very well and I would say it has quite a bit of age left in it given how muted the fruit was on this one. This has some real power but married with such great finesse.
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2/6/2010 - canan wrote: 94 Points
Aalto / Aalto PS complete vertical (HSH): Mix of 68 + 70 + 72 vintages added to cask in 1981 and released in 1991.
Nose: Egg and buttermilk, some sulfor. Overall very complex and impressive.
Taste: Elegant red currant fruit and a very pure, clean and delicious acidity. Some strawberry and even tomato coming through.
All about elegance and freshness.
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8/16/2008 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points
Spanish Gems from World Class Producers (Caveau, Singapore): The bottle I tried was a blend of the 1985, 1991 and 1996 vintages, released in 1997. A good wine, but completely left in the dust by the profound Unico 1996. While shading garnet at the edges, this still had a dark inky core. The nose was more muted than the absolutely singing bouquet on the 1996. Attractive in its own right though, this showed plush meat and dark fruit scents, wrapped in smoke and coconutty oak. It opened up with time to show more deep, dark cherries and a meatier undertone. Rather more subtle than the Unico, but very classy. Very smooth on the palate, the wine goes down super-easily, with a glide of rather surprisngly fine tannins. Still, it seemed a bit sharper and more angular next to the power and superb balance and elegance of the Unico. Very nice finish, with mocha, nuts, beautiful smokiness and a touch of game. In fairness, this too is very young. The weight and intensity is there in abundance, but all rather tightly wound up at the moment.
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