Community Tasting Notes 19

• Mag357 Likes this wine:

  December 22, 2023 - This young retired man, develops barely tertiary aromas, is still full of energy in the mouth with some tannic roughness and quite a grip on the finish, alas there is no magic unfolding here but this is a wine that commands respect, as the wine is still kicking at more than 60 years of age.

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• Romol wrote: flawed

  December 20, 2021 - My only bottle wich I bought recently from one of my favorite retailer. Perfect bottle and level...but the wine not. What a shame.

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• FransS wrote: 96 points

  November 10, 2021 - Five wine friends and two guests (Restaurant Olivijn (Michelin star) Haarlem, The Netherlands): And again (see the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant '96) legends never die and at the age of 60 it is no exaggeration; super ripe dark fruit, good wood, high, but very acceptable, acidity, concentrated. The last sip from the bottle with some depot showed even generous with a hint of sweetness; 95 points and 1 for surviving so well.

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• Cailles wrote: 96 points

  October 17, 2021 - 30x 1955 & 1961 (mostly Bdx): Tasted single blind. This is a monster of wine with so much substance and aromatic layers. Super exciting intellectually but in this lineup of mature Bordeauxs, the unbelievable intensity of all these aromas was slightly overwhelming. Additionally, I like the fruits a little bit in the fresher and less ripe/dried spectrum. Nevertheless, this is definitely an absolute world class wine which will go strong for another 50 or 100 years and will continue to improve from further. It strongly reminded me of a magnum Haut Brion 1959 (!) from 18 months ago. I don’t have much experience with these old Unicos but this showed much riper and new-worldish than the 1960 and 1965 last year which were more like a Bordeaux. All three vintages showed rather young and far away from their respective peak (probably not wise to buy new vintages of this when you have to wait that long).
  
  TN: Hyper intense liquorice, cinnamon and a plethora of ripe dark fruits. Quite singular but so hyper intense that is almost unbearable to smell. Yet it is impossible to stop smelling it. Same on the palate: this is a hyper dense wine with so much substance and power with loads of very fine tannins and a high freshness as well as a creamy texture. Lots of tension, very vivid. Very complex and with very high precision with mostly ripe and dried dark fruits, herbs, minerality, spices, mushrooms. The balance is not perfect as there is just too much substance to handle. Maybe time will change that.
  
  Decanting: Not decanted. Good from the go but I would give this a 2+ hours in the decanter.

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• sirpat00 wrote: 97 points

  September 20, 2021 - Grand 1961 vs 1955 vintage tasting (Fribourg): Big 1961 vs 1955 tastings including 10 direct match-ups and 11 individual wines from 1961. The tasting was conducted in flights of 4, single-blind and with no previous decant with all bottles opened 1h prior to start. The line-up was dominated by Bordeaux reds, but also included 5 Sauternes, 1 Champagne, 3 Burgundy reds and 1 Ribera del Duero. The following observations are worth mentioning: i) 1961 generally came across as a better vintage today than 1955, ii) the performance correlated with the 1855 classification, iii) The most outstanding wines were outside of the Bordeaux reds with Veuve Clicquot Rosé '61, Vega Sicilia Unico '61 (both 97) and La Tour Blanche '61 (96) worth mentioning, iv) Top-performing Bordeaux was Margaux (95) in 1961 and Mouton in 1955. List of wines included in the tasting story.
  
  Tasting note:
  What a uniquely massive bouquet! Liquorice candy, cassis liqueur, black coffee, strawberry bubble gum and plum. There was also a faint element of burnt rubber This was so intense that at first you'll miss the aging notes consisting of mushrooms and earthy notes. This showed a versatile evolution in the glass, constantly changing., however. Amazing power with densely packed falvours of liquorice on the palate, plenty of tannin and acidity. A veritable explosion reminding me more of an Aussie Shiraz than a 60 year old Bordeaux. This is strong stuff - but you definitely need the stomach, and taste, for it. Felt like there was another 100 years of aging potential left. An extreme wine that didn’t fit into the Bordeaux dominated setting where it felt like an encounter of the third kind.

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Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1961
• Type Red
• Producer Bodegas Vega-Sicilia
• Varietal Tempranillo Blend
• Designation Único
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Spain
• Region Castilla y León
• SubRegion n/a
• Appellation Ribera del Duero

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 4 (4%)
• In Cellars 68 (69%)
• Consumed 26 (27%)

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