Vega Sicilia Unico Dinner with Pablo Alvarez (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): 90/91/94 flight with this Especial bonus, which comes from the 94/96/00 vintages. Easily the most accessible and enjoyable of the four wines in this flight. Still firm, but less meaty. Completely delightful and seamless, like the older vintages of Unico from the previous flight. An expanding and exciting finish, this also got bigger with more time in glass.
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Acker Vega Sicilia dinner with Pablo Álvarez (Asador Bastian): 91/94/Especial (94 96 00). Interestingly and clearly a different animal than the Unico. More high toned and elegant, while still true to the herb and spice driven complexity. Ethereal and a special wine in its own right.
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Vega Sicilia Unico Vertical: 10x Vega Sicilia Unico (1985-2006). 7 vintages of Gran Reserva, 3x Reserva Especial. A few conclusions: A) The quality was high in all bottles. Increased complexity and precision, a fine structural framework with silky tannins, pronounced acidity and very good balance. B) The family resemblance across all bottles is high. Unico has a strong and unique DNA with the freshness and tension of a good Bordeaux combined with the softness and silkiness of Tempranillo and a unique flavor profile with lots of fresh blueberries, garrigue, bacon and gentle coffee notes. C) Maturity was well controlled, even in hot years. No hint of over-ripeness. D) The wines are meant to age and certainly need almost 20 years before reaching a first drinking window. The 30 year old bottles seemed young and only the 40 year old ones showed tertiary aromas. E) The quality was high across the board with no weak bottles, but the best wines were the tertiary 1985 (96pts), 1986 (97pts) and 1987 (95pts). The 2006 (95pts) is very promising.
TN: A bit muted on the nose. Licorice, earthy minerality, crushed rocks. On the palate fresh blue fruit, fresh minty herbs, minerality. This is still young but alluring and also fresh and round. With time this gets more complex and rounder. Very promising - 94/95pts.
Decanting: A quick double decant, then the wine rested back in the bottle without cork for roughly five to six hours. This could have needed two hours in a decanter.
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A private dinner with friends (Polsbroek, NL): A batch of 54 barriques blended from 1994, 1996 and 2000, released in 2015. Bottle No. 010410 from 15,605 produced, 14% ABV. Tasted blind. Initially quite oxidative, really develops well with two hours in the decanter. Lovely balsamic notes and nutty depth, fresh and elegant, intense and salty, black fruit and mildly grippy tannins, deep and flowing, spicy American oak, excellent persistence. A wine of real elegance.
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Opulent and round, this was more accessible than the '99 Vega Sicilia tonight but it may have sacrificed something to be more accessible. As a friend put it, I don't drink Vega Sicilia to have something modern and round, I want the old school experience. Personally I liked them both and would consider this as a great pop and pour, and the '99 the wine to cellar.
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A beautiful wine but just a little too much wood and vanilla with some spices. Tannins quite resolved but still has a few more years to go before it really starts to integrate fully I believe. Try again in 2023 and beyond.
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1994-1996-2000(release 2015) : Dans un style primaire. Le vin est encore très jeune, il a de la matière, dela richesse. Au nez, j’y vois des bleuets, du chocolat et de la vanille. En bouche le vin est large, il a du caractère avec un côté viandé et regorge de fruits confits. Un belle texture soyeuse et caressant l’ensemble du palais. Doit être attendu.
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2015 release comprising the 1994, 1995 & 2000, decanted for 3.5 hours, a lot of creamy vanilla oak, blueberries said Barry, too young, supremely balanced, good but it needs more time, young compared to the company today - 99 Rayas, 03 Rinaldi Ravera, 89 Leoville las cases 93+
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Double-decanted about 8 hours before dinner and drank along side a highly-rated super Tuscan. Both were extraordinary but in different ways. This was all about meat, muscle and dirt, but in a good way.
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Rich dark chocolate aromas with a brooding black fruit flair. Deeply concentrated with a velvet like texture showing real breed. Wonderful yet not totally giving today, smooth and ripe, although a touch compacted. Popped and poured and either more cellar time or a good decant highly likely to bring out more nuance. 93 tonight with 96 potential.
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Trelio with the fellas again (Clovis Ca.): Blind. Started out dark and raisined, smooth and deeply fruited...fig jam, plum, black cherry, currant...gained and gained throughout the night, with more elegance and less concentration coming through. Dark spice, olive, rich earth, creme de cassis, smoked spice...and lifted with a nice vein of acidity. Should be long lived. An experience. I guessed Super Tuscan Cab blend.
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Mesmerizing wine. Dark fruit on the nose, subtle balsamic character, coffee, tobacco, leather, vanilla. Smooth tannins, elegant overall feel. Not as wild as the '09 Valbuena. More majestic than raw and charming.
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Not very descrptive. Good wine but dont love it. Polished marble with a vegetarian tinge. Young and also a little aged. Such is life in a vintage blend perhaps. Confusing.
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This is a very special bottle of wine of unparalleled elegance, refinement and balance. It is a complex but seamless blend of the 1994, 1996 and 2000 vintages. While dominated by dark berry fruit, there is just this little hint of subsurface milk chocolate that makes it very intriguing, more than earlier RE's. Quite a bottle of wine!
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10/17/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
Vega Sicilia Unico Dinner with Pablo Alvarez (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): 90/91/94 flight with this Especial bonus, which comes from the 94/96/00 vintages. Easily the most accessible and enjoyable of the four wines in this flight. Still firm, but less meaty. Completely delightful and seamless, like the older vintages of Unico from the previous flight. An expanding and exciting finish, this also got bigger with more time in glass.
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10/17/2023 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
Acker Vega Sicilia dinner with Pablo Álvarez (Asador Bastian): 91/94/Especial (94 96 00). Interestingly and clearly a different animal than the Unico. More high toned and elegant, while still true to the herb and spice driven complexity. Ethereal and a special wine in its own right.
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9/11/2023 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
Vega Sicilia Unico Vertical: 10x Vega Sicilia Unico (1985-2006). 7 vintages of Gran Reserva, 3x Reserva Especial. A few conclusions: A) The quality was high in all bottles. Increased complexity and precision, a fine structural framework with silky tannins, pronounced acidity and very good balance. B) The family resemblance across all bottles is high. Unico has a strong and unique DNA with the freshness and tension of a good Bordeaux combined with the softness and silkiness of Tempranillo and a unique flavor profile with lots of fresh blueberries, garrigue, bacon and gentle coffee notes. C) Maturity was well controlled, even in hot years. No hint of over-ripeness. D) The wines are meant to age and certainly need almost 20 years before reaching a first drinking window. The 30 year old bottles seemed young and only the 40 year old ones showed tertiary aromas. E) The quality was high across the board with no weak bottles, but the best wines were the tertiary 1985 (96pts), 1986 (97pts) and 1987 (95pts). The 2006 (95pts) is very promising.
TN: A bit muted on the nose. Licorice, earthy minerality, crushed rocks. On the palate fresh blue fruit, fresh minty herbs, minerality. This is still young but alluring and also fresh and round. With time this gets more complex and rounder. Very promising - 94/95pts.
Decanting: A quick double decant, then the wine rested back in the bottle without cork for roughly five to six hours. This could have needed two hours in a decanter.
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4/22/2023 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 96 Points
A private dinner with friends (Polsbroek, NL): A batch of 54 barriques blended from 1994, 1996 and 2000, released in 2015. Bottle No. 010410 from 15,605 produced, 14% ABV. Tasted blind. Initially quite oxidative, really develops well with two hours in the decanter. Lovely balsamic notes and nutty depth, fresh and elegant, intense and salty, black fruit and mildly grippy tannins, deep and flowing, spicy American oak, excellent persistence. A wine of real elegance.
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1/17/2023 - KenK Likes this wine: 94 Points
Brooding dark core of earthy dense ripe fruits with beautiful black spices. Drinking very well.
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2/9/2021 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Opulent and round, this was more accessible than the '99 Vega Sicilia tonight but it may have sacrificed something to be more accessible. As a friend put it, I don't drink Vega Sicilia to have something modern and round, I want the old school experience. Personally I liked them both and would consider this as a great pop and pour, and the '99 the wine to cellar.
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10/16/2020 - LB88 wrote: 93 Points
A beautiful wine but just a little too much wood and vanilla with some spices. Tannins quite resolved but still has a few more years to go before it really starts to integrate fully I believe. Try again in 2023 and beyond.
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11/2/2018 - fontaine wrote: 94 Points
1994-1996-2000(release 2015) : Dans un style primaire. Le vin est encore très jeune, il a de la matière, dela richesse. Au nez, j’y vois des bleuets, du chocolat et de la vanille. En bouche le vin est large, il a du caractère avec un côté viandé et regorge de fruits confits. Un belle texture soyeuse et caressant l’ensemble du palais. Doit être attendu.
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8/22/2018 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
2015 release comprising the 1994, 1995 & 2000, decanted for 3.5 hours, a lot of creamy vanilla oak, blueberries said Barry, too young, supremely balanced, good but it needs more time, young compared to the company today - 99 Rayas, 03 Rinaldi Ravera, 89 Leoville las cases
93+
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5/23/2018 - LB88 wrote: 94 Points
Amazing wine except a hint of sourness may pass with age
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8/29/2017 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
Higher level of clarity and greater pungency of fruit than the '14. Dark earth and tar notes. Needs a lot of time. '94/'96/'00
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8/21/2017 - camachodavalos Likes this wine: 100 Points
Aterciopelado. Frutal (Cereza y fresa) y muy profundo.
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8/9/2017 - kanab ram Likes this wine:
Double-decanted about 8 hours before dinner and drank along side a highly-rated super Tuscan. Both were extraordinary but in different ways. This was all about meat, muscle and dirt, but in a good way.
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7/12/2017 - KenK Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich dark chocolate aromas with a brooding black fruit flair. Deeply concentrated with a velvet like texture showing real breed. Wonderful yet not totally giving today, smooth and ripe, although a touch compacted. Popped and poured and either more cellar time or a good decant highly likely to bring out more nuance. 93 tonight with 96 potential.
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7/12/2017 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine: 96 Points
Trelio with the fellas again (Clovis Ca.): Blind. Started out dark and raisined, smooth and deeply fruited...fig jam, plum, black cherry, currant...gained and gained throughout the night, with more elegance and less concentration coming through. Dark spice, olive, rich earth, creme de cassis, smoked spice...and lifted with a nice vein of acidity. Should be long lived. An experience. I guessed Super Tuscan Cab blend.
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2/7/2017 - jrh82 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Mesmerizing wine. Dark fruit on the nose, subtle balsamic character, coffee, tobacco, leather, vanilla. Smooth tannins, elegant overall feel. Not as wild as the '09 Valbuena. More majestic than raw and charming.
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11/9/2016 - popopdrops wrote: 90 Points
Koster lang mer enn den smaker. God, dog.
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6/14/2016 - SlimShaney wrote: 91 Points
Not very descrptive. Good wine but dont love it. Polished marble with a vegetarian tinge. Young and also a little aged. Such is life in a vintage blend perhaps. Confusing.
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5/20/2016 - camachodavalos Likes this wine:
97 points
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10/29/2015 - fcxj wrote: 96 Points
Ficofi. Unexpected and very enjoyable. Good complexity with some mix between red and purple fruit. Mellow and long on palate. Approachable now.
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10/23/2015 - Stevere Likes this wine: 99 Points
This is a very special bottle of wine of unparalleled elegance, refinement and balance. It is a complex but seamless blend of the 1994, 1996 and 2000 vintages. While dominated by dark berry fruit, there is just this little hint of subsurface milk chocolate that makes it very intriguing, more than earlier RE's. Quite a bottle of wine!
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