Jon's 50th Birthday Dinner: Opened for 4 hours. Really spectacular tonight with an earthy, but bright nose and great structure and silky smooth palate. A very singular wine.
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Not blind A perfect matured red wine with timeless class and elegance. No hurry but at his peak. I prefer it to the 64/66/70 Especial we had side by side. 99-100
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This bottle of 53 years old was awesome; the wine opened in the glass and perfect aromas developed. It is now at its maximum: a tiny shade of brown started to appear in the wine. In summary: the friends I consumed this magnum bottle with were 100% complimentary about the superb quality.
End-of-Summer Dinner Featuring Vega-Sicilia Único (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): Base neck fill. In Unico flight. Complex fresh, mature, and dried fruit. Vibrant and brilliant with so much perfectly pitched black fruit featuring meat, spice, and such elegant structure. Wow, this is one of the two or three best wines I have had this year.
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Wine of the night in a line-up of stars. Epic aromas that are wildly intense, full and layered with so much going on. Palate is remarkably youthful and rich with gorgeous poise. A legendary wine.
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Leather tones with deep plumb bouquet. Drinking very fresh - undoubtedly will drink into 2030; depending on how well it's kept. Patience is a virtue with this 53-year-old beauty.
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Bright light garnet. Amazingly youthful but with a full spectrum of tertiary scents and flavors. Could just nose this wine for hours....amazing. Leather, cigar box, deep cherry and plum fruits, forest floor, savory spice. Some high end red Burg qualities. Glad to have a couple more.
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It is a wine that I first took pleasure in tasting on the nose, it is so magnificent: graphite, tobacco, leather, spices, bright black fruit... A real farandole of flavors.
On the palate, the wine is delicate. A Burgundian profile in a Bordeaux construction. It is first of all the freshness that strikes for a 55-year-old wine! Everything is harmonious, starting with this mix between violet and black fruit, sprinkled with spice and notes of leather, power and elegance at the same time... The wine is complete and imposes its presence in a completely natural. Masterful finish, all in delicacy on aromas of tobacco and undergrowth which stretches to infinity.
A great Vega.
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Drank alongside the Eglise Clinet 1982. I found the EC stunning. A vibrant colour, a fragrant nose, a harmonious mid-palate and a smooth finish. Definitely an earthy / woody taste to it that might not be to everyone’s liking but I found it superb. The VS I found enjoyable but a bit too port-like and tired. 97 for the ‘82 Eglise Clinet and 92 for the Vega Sicilia 1970. One difference was that the EC has been in my cellar for a long time whereas I bought the VS at auction, and thus storage may have played a role with the latter. Still, extremely privileged to be able to drink wines like these two.
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Incredible that a 50 years old wine can maintain this strength and complexity. Great nose and body, perfect even with a bit of airing. Cork in good shape, fantastic effort. Enjoy for another ten years.
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Beautiful and youthful bottle. Having fully absorbed its wood, now requires more time to develop more secondary notes. Bright and energetic fruit with underlying dark soil tones. 94-95
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TobI's Firework (Berens am Kai 1 star Restaurant): blind guessed Bordeaux, a timeless Beauty. Everything is at the right place. Black currant, cherry, soft, melted tannins. Power with elegance. at his peak but no hurry. 100
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Elegantly light and utterly seductive, light cherry flauvors, figs, hints of spices, minerality and appropriate level of acidity, everything about this vintage is in perfect harmony and balance, one of the best - if not the best vintage - in the vertical.
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This ÚNICOrn spent ten years aging in French barriques with an additional sixteen years in bottle before its eventual release in the late 1990s! Incredibly youthful and fresh showing a remarkable Bordeaux-like personality. Tasted double blind, the notes of crushed violets, cassis and mineral rich soil had me pegging this as 90 / 96 Margaux. Digging deeper, the Tempranillo blend reveals dried cherries, dark plums, savory herbs and sweet tobacco while displaying great focus and grip on the persistent finish. The total package, 1970 Único is sublime! 98+
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From two very good looking bottles with BN fills. This wine had a deep red center with light red/orange rims. The medium intensity nose went through a few stages. After 5 hours of air it showed plum, griotte cherry, figs, brown spices, and minerals.
In the mouth, this wine was rich, dense, and clearly old vines but still had lovely integration and great structure. It was quite tight at first and needed a lot of time to open up.
While there was some oakiness noticeable for the first couple hours, as the fruit opened up with air, the oak was pushed into the background.
This doesn't have the complexity of some wines. Is it still too young? This is a very good wine that is in the zone but will clearly last for decades.
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Dog Year Wines (Yan, National Gallery, Singapore): This was simply amazing - even better than the tremendous magnum I had a decade or so back. The best wine in the midst of a very serious line-up, and probably one of the top 10 or 20 wines I can remember ever having. The nose was just beautiful, with lifted wafts of dried plums and cherries, honeyed dates, a twist of sweet American oak, and then drifts of fragrant smoke and sweet spices. Just wonderful - complex, alluring, seductive. Lovely. The palate simply floored me. Wow. How do I even begin to describe this - deep, powerful, generous, yet also effortless and elegant, with such purity and clarity to it. Perfeclt integrated, and the balance was just pristine. This just danced across the mouth with layer after effortless later of black cherry, blueberries and dark plum, all seasoned with a gentle infusion of spice and smoke, all drifting away into an inexorably long finish. This was fantastic. Intensity and complexity without a smidgen or weight on it. It’s bottles like this that make me fall in love with wine all over again. A masterpiece, drinking at absolute peak now.
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Wow, this is just great Vega Sicilia. PNP and enjoyed along with a few 1970 Bordeaux, including 2 first growths, and this was the WOTN for all. Dark red, deep, oak still shows but integrated very nicely. Long finish. This one didn't last long. Great wine. A
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The 1970 Vega Sicilia is very close quality to the 1968 Unico. Incredibly youthful, as absurd as it may sound, this 48 year old wine is too young to drink!
Swee fruits with new oak cinnamon and vanilla spices. Deeply flavoured dark fruits and rich backbone. Meaty and dense, but less savoury 1968. The 1970 is slightly less complex than the 1968. The youthfulness is almost like a 1996 Bordeaux. Subtle ripe jammy fruits, mocha and autumn forest floor with a solid oak tone. Masculine.
96+/100
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As last time I had this, back in 2011, fill just above the neck, 80% soaked cork yet easy to pop. Deep red colour with a water edge - never would I have guess that this wine turns 50 this year.
Complex nose where the list of nuances is long; but the mature fruit is great - and mixed with still (!!) a quite young cool red fruit this is nothing what I would expect from a wine at this age, however the memories from 2011 coming back to mind. This is such a great wine, the palate and the nose mirror each other greatly, the elegance, the extremely long finish. It improves with air during the evening.
i would not be surprised to see this wine live greatly for a few more decades. However, comparing my notes from 2011 to the ones this night there is really not that much of a difference - just equally great as then. Drink now - or prepare to be amazed when the right occasion appears.
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Vega Sicilia Unico Vertical 1953-1994 (Hosted by Cedric at Eleven Madison Park): Amazing melange of flavors. This was opened 30 minutes before serving and then kept on opening up and evolving over the subsequent 3 hours. A massive deep, dark brooding wine with cigar box, prunes and hoisin sauce flavors. Great fruit intensity, length and depth. Remarkably young and fresh for a 50 year old wine. This will easily go for another 20+ years. WOTN for me.
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Tasting with some crazy geeks (@Private location, Solingen): *** Brief notes for my own memory, no CT rating. Points expressed are only rough guidelines *** Popped and poured. From perfect cellar. Deep garnet color. Wonderful, medium+ intense classic Unico nose. Very complex and elegant. Very young and fresh, perfectly balanced, herbaceous, some leather, tobacco, red fruit, wonderful length. 95-96
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This is an extraordinary wine with depth, fullness and super complexity while staying light on its feet. I last had this in 2010 and it has lost just a drop of power since then, suggesting that at 39 years, it may be time to start drinking these before they fade. Had along side the 2000 version and the similarities were striking. There was no doubt that they were the same wine, made in the same way. I'd give that 2000 another 10 years.
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Acker April 2019 (Marea in NYC): Served originally as a mystery wine and I don't think I would have guessed. This had been opened and decanted and even with that it was still on the quieter side. It's not as intense as a truly young Unico with the very strong wood and all of that. Much more integrated. But some of the power I would have expected wasn't there, but there was a level of class to it too.
Vega Sicilia Unicos (Peppercorn's (Hartford, CT)): OMG, this was at a wonderful drinking spot. Fresh red fruits with some secondary dried fruit flavors just showing. Very claret-like, with a spicy, layered, velvety, mouth-filling palate. So packed with flavor. The tannins are still very robust, suggesting this still has quite a bit in the tank.
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I believe this had about 30 minutes in the decanter before we had it. Following an oxidized '68 this was wonderful. Great fruit, with the oak certainly noticeable but working well with the fruit. Great balance and nice finish. This was great and the red of the evening. A
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This wine is still in it's infancy. It is a big wine with dark fruit. The tannins are smooth. It is very long on the palate. However no tertiary flavors that I would expect. We drank it along with a 1958 Fontanna Freda and a 1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle and though I liked the Unico the other 2 wines clearly showed better
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The 70 also served blindly had a big opponent but nevertheless a tremendous wine. More Bordeaux style and still very fresh. Not reached his peak. 97+
1962. Perfect bottle. Served blindly. Nobody at the table guesed VS. I was "sure" it was not Bx, Burgundy and Australia. I thought more to an old California than VS. This time it deserves 100 because nose and palate are perfect. Still a subtle cherry and dark berries fruit, cigarbox, violet and a Burgundy extract sweetness. Elegant, dense and concentrated and a sublime fine finish. 100
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Linda's Birthday with Hanbun: From Magnum. Quite lovely with dark earthy red fruit character and an underlying hint of dark spices. Medium body, well balanced, and clearly showing some age, yet providing plenty of pleasure. My expectations were through the roof here and while excellent not quite the thrill I was expected. Excellent wine, but wanted a bit more zip. Will hold fine for years, but guessing time to drink up. Thanks JG what a way to celebrate LG Bday!
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Incredibly seductive nose, like the rarest floral French perfume dripped over black earth and coffee grounds. Intense, powerful "iron fist in velvet glove", alive, evolving, lots of wet smoked cherries, and talc. Very well preserved, peak drinking, should hold another 5-10 years.
Blood, pure and simple, greets the nose followed by a hint of oxidation, not the best bottle of this though there is still a terrific core of tobacco, dark cherry fruit, and sweet warm spices with just a hint of dried orange peel lending this a holiday tone. Absolutely terrific in the mouth, polished, rich, laced with minerals and bright acidity but not lacking great depth and richness of fruit. It’s not the best example of this but it’s still a fabulous wine. There’s almost a sweetness to this early on the palate and it not only has fine length but the finish is nuanced and changing, alternating between warm spice, tobacco, and warm dark cherry fruit. Very well knit, still structurally youthful as if that would possible, but the tannins here while well integrated are very present. The nose cleans up nicely revealing a fine waxy, beeswax element, hints of currant leap, stewed cherry fruit and that ever present backing note of warm wood spice all topped with a hint of roasted mocha and a fine green cardamom spice note. So well integrated, this is silky yet rich, broad shoulder but notably less powerful than the last few bottles. It’s advanced but not damaged per se. The fruit remains intact, lingering on the finish with a fine sweet/tart tension. Really long. Gains red apple skins and pine resin on the nose as the finish sweetens up retaining it phenomenal length. Later tobacco and herbs pop on the nose as the palate gains a little strawberry like freshness to the fruit.
Took 4 hrs of slow ox to open up. Tobacco, dark fruit, spice and graphite on the nose and palate. Very good structure and high complexity. Kept evolving throughout the night. Still young from peak drinking window. A complete wine.
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Kleur: Fluwelig rood Aroma / bouquet: In de neus: Een waardige grijsaard met ballen. Belegen bouquet. Uitgesproken, verfijnd, complex. Uiterst tertiair. Gedroogd fruit,vleesjus. Maar niet wat ik zou verwachten van een WA 96-wijn. Tonen van vermoeidheid: soja, maggi, Madeira. Smaak / Afdronk: Mondvullend in een sublieme balans. Frisse zuurgraad, briljant gerijpte maar boterig zachte tannines, bescheiden alcoholpercentage. Indrukwekkend lange afdronk. Algemeen / potentieel: Prachtige Ribeira.Maar zeker geen wijn met nog een drinkbaarheidshorizon van enkele jaren. Nu drinken, over de top. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Smaak / Afdronk: 17 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 93/100
Google Translate:
Color: Velvety red Aroma / bouquet: In the nose: A dignified old man with balls. Mature bouquet. Pronounced, sophisticated, complex. Extremely tertiary. Dried fruit, gravy. But not what I would expect from a WA-96 wine. Showing fatigue: soy, maggi, Madeira. Taste / Finish: Mouth filling in a sublime balance. Crisp acidity, brilliant matured but buttery soft tannins, moderate alcohol content. Impressively long finish General / potential: Nice Ribeira.Maar certainly not wine with a drinkability horizon of several years. Drink now. 50+ Color: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Taste / Finish: 17 + General / potential: 9 = 93/100
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Black earth, dark fruit, good acid. Overall quite fresh but perhaps still to young. Not as expressive as some bottles and a clear presence of light wood notes. This bottle needed more time but still did not fully hint at the heights that this wine is capable of reaching. 93-94+
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Aged cherry, notes of vanilla, leather, cedar after rain; intense, distinguished, poised, a mellowed power and directness; beautifully structurally balanced; truly lovely; wish I had had more
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Had more of everything and was the unanimous wine of the bracket. The nose was so sweet and perfumed. There was some freshly grated ginger, vanilla, blood plum, cherry and purple flowers. It looks several decades younger and the palate has so much grunt but is not in the slightest way heavy. There’s serious chew to the finish despite the perfectly sweet ripeness of tannin. It feels like it needs another two or three decades to reach its eventual apogee.
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Absolutely stunning, brilliant wine. So Incredibly vibrant at 46 its easy to imagine it will still give great pleasure in another 50 years. Drunk with roasted squab pigeon at Francois Audouze dinner #198 at 67 Pall Mall.
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An Evening with Francois Audouze (67 Pall Mall): Young and vibrant like it was 5 years old. This really is a remarkable vintage of Unico with no sense of ageing whatsoever. Primary fruits on the nose with a silky smooth palate with get acidic depth and clarity. Lovely.
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beautiful wine, but seems still very young and a bit tight. Believe this will need another 10 years to show its best. Amazing material. More Pomerol than Rioja for me.
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I see so high scores from other tasters so I'm not going to score it myself for two reasons, first it came after 10 bottles (the two previous being a 2004 Romanee Conti Richebourg and the other a 2003 Lafite) of other wine so palate fatigue did not allow me to fully appreciate and secondly although typical Vega with VA and dark fruit, mollases etc., it had a mouldy aroma which could possibly be a fault of that particular bottle.
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The best Unico ever!! Bery serious effort from Vega Sicilia. Drink side by side with '81. Very complex nose of fruits and berries, integrated soft tannin and long finish
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Vega Sicilia Dinner with Pablo Alvarez (Tenzing - Chicago IL): Open and decanted for a few hours before serving. Black fruit with good spice. Nicely fresh, but less length, power and intensity than better bottles I've had in the past. But this kept getting more complete and interesting with more time in glass.
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Como medida preventiva esta botella fue abierta 5 horas antes de meterle mano. Ni siquiera así fue suficiente... Un pedazo de señor vino que no se desmelena por mucho que lo jarreemos en copa!! Intimida por su pureza y severidad inicial, entregándose a cuenta gotas con tacañería. Apenas llegamos a entrever su profundidad sísmica. Lo que sale de él es glorioso: fruta negra, tinta china y un fondo en el que la manteca de cacao se infusiona en un copazo de minerales y térreos. Un vino telúrico, complicado, exigente, que renuncia a la instintiva elegancia de la casa para echar zanjas en los adentros del viñedo de Valbuena. Esta botella continua anclada en el viñedo.
En boca es un desafío al paso del tiempo. Íntegro, entero como un bloque de cemento, de estructura pétrea y belleza natural. Lo que nos va dando es todo de carácter "terroirifico": hollejos, zarzal, tierra, envuelto en un hábito vaporoso, aterciopelado, que levita sin tocar el suelo del que proviene. Este vino rezuma verdad. Hermoso a más no poder, como ningún otro vino. El recuerdo nos lo llevaremos a la tumba.
- - - Wine Info - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 70% tinto fino, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot, 3% malbec - 13% vol. Acabado el proceso de fermentación alcohólica realizó la maloláctica en tinos viejos de madera de gran capacidad donde permaneció a lo largo de 5 años. A continuación se trasvasó a bidones de madera usados y progresivamente a otros más usados durante un total de 10 años. El resto en botella hasta su comercialización a lo largo del año 2000. Producción limitada a 94.500 botellas de 75 cl. y 2.000 magnum. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Perhaps the WOTN in a fabulous dinner at 11 Madison featuring the best vintages of Unico from 1960-1996. The wine is just gorgeously sweet with age and has this wonderful silkiness to the texture. Full-bodied but beautifully balanced and it builds to a fabulously complex finish with notes of sweet tobacco, herbs and minerals. Seemless and refined as well as oozing and layered, this is Vega Sicilia at its best with continued room for upside. 97+
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A spectacular bottle. Rich sweet fruit with a fragrant and perfumed nose. Wet rocks in the background. Super smooth on the palate with mature but still focused fruit (black raspberry predominant) and a range of background flavors including earth, thyme and cedar. Served without a decant but allowed to open up over 1.5 hours. May be nearing a peak but still has a lot of time left
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San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 5/17/2014 (Grant Grill, U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego): 70% tempranillo, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot and malbec. Aged five years in large wooden "envases," another ten years in barriques, then bottled and cellared at the estate until release in 1995. Decanted gently about 30 minutes before tasting. Clear dark garnet-blood red color. Forgive me for waxing poetic with this wine. The act of leaning one's nose toward a glass of Unico is akin to leaning forward in one's seat in the concert hall, listening for the first notes of Massenet's opera Don Quixote. The first impression is sweet gun oil. Instantly I am transported through time and space to the Spanish countryside under Franco's rule, where I sit on a horse, carrying a pristine, freshly oiled antique hunting rifle with walnut stock. In my saddle bag, fresh red cherries and earthy black truffles for a picnic lunch. These are the aromas, flavors, sights and sounds I experienced with this wine. Seaquam offered a more conventional assessment, noting some qualities of mineral and lead pencil, and comparing the wine to a Lafite or Latour from a ripe vintage. A noble, profound wine, wearing the patina of age effortlessly, as it will for decades to come. My #2, group's SECOND PLACE in this flight.
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From Greg - bright, very aged on the rim, on the nose - secondary aroma with nutmeg and leather, dry fruits such as figs and dates, on the mouth - confirms dry fruits, plus cinnamon and integrated tannins. conclusion - a perfect vega to be drunk within the next 5-7 years
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This compelling, showing stopper of a wine does not quit. The bouquet, with its earth, black cherry, licorice, smoke and spicy personality does not let go. On the palate, the wine is deep, concentrated and long, with freshness, spice and a nutty quality that remains in your mouth for close to 60 seconds.
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Bud's 70th at Ortega Fish Shack (Ortega Fish Shack, Wellington, New Zealand): This looks like a ten year old bordeaux, although the huge American oak derived nose brings one to Spain in a hurry. Fabulous aromatics that feature in addition to the aforementioned oak, blackcurrants, coconut, cedar and warm dried herbal nuance. The palate is exquisite - very reminiscent of first growth bordeaux in proportion and structure. Still youthful and capable of aging for 20 more years (at least), I think this is a ear profound wine that is without doubt a compelling example of Unico. This will get better but is flirting with the extraordinary right now. 96+ points.
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Simply put - this is a WOW wine from A through Z. My wife and I brought this bottle for a birthday dinner. Pulled it out of cellar and placed in an upright position for 3 days. P&P into decanter slowly and w/out need for strainer. Last 20 mL kept in bottle which had all sediment. Clear ruby red color with brownish reflection. Poured in glass after 20 minutes of air time. Nose jumps from glass with macerated wild berries, leather, forest soil, and green celery stick - may be basil? On palate, the tannins had mellowed and integrated. Not a bit of heat. It saturates all mouth with wonderful mixture of black and blue fruit. Slightly sweet vegetal hint which Laurel thought it most resembled honeydew melon! Finish is super long. While fully mature, there is no rush to drink this beauty which could easily go for one more decade. Highest score we have given in 2 years. +97
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Still young at close to 45 years of age, this incredibly powerful rich, intense, full bodied, exotic wine is packed with dense layers of fresh blackberries, spice, kirsch liqueur, earth, minerals, smoke and ripe, sweet tannins, This has the structure to age and evolve for ages.
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Grapes for Great Causes (Goosefoot Restaurant, Chicago): From Magnum: Dark black fruit nose with loads of cinnamon, netmeg, and allspice, quite impressive. Palate followed through showing dry spicy quailty with nice dried red fruits and good underlying sweetness. Nice backbone gives lift and wonderful balance. More masuline in style with loads going on here. Slightly rustic, yet pretty.This one is all avout the spice box quality. Really wish could hace another glass. Classic.
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We had a trio of Unico - 62. 68, and 70. Notes: The 1962 (bottle # 50459) was a very good bottle from a case with lots of variability. The fruit was less forward than the others, but what was there was terrific. A great showing. The 1968 kicked it up a notch. There was a bit of back and forth between 62 and 68 - both were terrific and call it a draw. Then the 1970 arrived. Wow, what a full palate. Fresh. Its really the great Unico that people talk about when they talk 1970. Consensus best of flight. All of these were purchased in Europe 15+ years ago, and the provenance showed. Great showing, reminds me why I fell in love with Unico back in the day.
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brownish-red color, heavy dark(er) fruits with a real nice sweet finish. Decanted for 1hr should be at least 2. No issue with the experience just nothing like the great '68 I had last month. The Vega Unico '70 is great to have around when you need something to talk about, but don't pay up to buy this wine today. Drink today, next year and in 20 years.
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From an excellent looking bottle with a bottom neck fill, this wine looked strong with a deep red/purple center and some oranging on the rim.
The medium+ intensity nose showed blackberry, plum, sage, and soil but was a bit unbalanced by a dollop of American oak.
In the mouth, this wine was ripe and round with a nice supple texture. It also had great length and complexity. While this wine seems to be in the early stages of its drinking window, I am not sure if the oakiness in the nose will be absorbed or not.
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I cannot say it any better than these other guys/gals... but this is one awesome wine... I like what one other said... the color is not indicative of a wine so old. The cord was soaked almost to the end. And the nose... yeah, I could sniff it all night... if I had not drank it all... one awesome bottle of wine.
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Nine 1970 Rioja with a Vega Sicilia ringer. (Il Corso): Greg didn't have a '70 Rioja, so he brought this as a ringer instead. Ok. I guess we'll accept it. An excellent showing for this legend, though perhaps holding back just a tiny bit in comparison to other bottles I've tried that have been a little more effusive. The wine seems suspended in time with its youthful and vigorous personality and structure. It shows beautiful aromatics of beef blood, baked earth, black raspberry, spice and a bit of menthol. Rich, yet perfectly balanced in the mouth with terrific length. Similar flavors as aromas with a strong blood note. A seemingly immortal wine and always a wonderful treat to try. A+/A.
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Filling just above the neck, cork almost completely soaked. Quite deep red on the colour, water edge but not that much brick really.
The nose is more of an elegant one; there are so many scents it is hard to describe but barnyard, mature red fruits, hints of oak, coffee, chocolate and a layer of tee to mention some of them. The list is evidently long. The acid is great, great fruit that follows all the way and mirrors the complexity of the nose. The finish kind of decreases before increasing and just remaining there for a long time. Delicious! It actually improves with some time in the glass as well and becomes more intense.
Tempting to compare it to the Ygay -59 which is the first one coming to mind, however the elegance is much more present. It is just much more delicate all the way. No need to rush remaining bottles, however it is really there now.
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Purchased from the wine list at Troquet Boston which has had it since release. Most of my Vega experience has been with 'younger' bottles from the 90s and this was truly a revelation. I liked the description of this wine by Paul S so I won't repeat what he had to say but aside from beautiful aromatics, color, body and flavor, the most remarkable element was the finish which was not simply incredibly long but was one of the most intense experiences I have had while drinking wine. The finish had a kind of explosive quality which grabbed your throat and just wouldn't let go. Absolutely unique and remarkable. A marvel.
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A wonderful bottle of wine. Age is very evident, but in no way is this over the hill. Can last another two decades. While I loved this wine, I think I enjoyed the 89 I had a tad better. This is the real McCoy. This will even please the most jaded Bordeaux lover into venturing out of their comfort zone.
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Some smoke on the nose, sweetness on the palate and my only wish we had the bottle from start to finish to see it's transformation. Lovely wine by all accounts.
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Tok Hong's 40th (Infuzi, Biopolis): From a magnum. I was floored by this one. A profound, profound wine that quite belies any description. The nose showed deep, deep reservoirs of dark fruits all tightly wound together, earth, vanilla, and a spike of orange fizz, pepper, menthol, smoke. Deeply brooding. A world away from the exuberant, seductive '70 Tondonia, but no less impressive. A pause, on to the palate, and woah! This was something else. Mindblowing, show-stopping - everyone on the table went speechless for awhile as they took their first sips. It was just absolutely seamless, with mouth-coating flavours of black fruits, spice, smoke, a little tar, a touch of chocolate, all so wonderful integrated that it came across as one glorious beam of deep flavours just sweeping majestically across the breadth of the palate, with a pull of wood and spice streaming along below. Bordeaux like at points with its fine structure and dark fruited depths, but it reminded me more of a top-end Musigny than anything else in the way it carried such elegance and complexity, yet somehow still coming across as a powerful, almost monolithic wine. An archetypal iron fist in a velvet glove. The finish just sealed the whole deal. Awesome length, incredible integration again, it just filled the mouth with plums, cassis and dark cherries, all wrapped in a little grip of the finest tannins that refused to release their hold on the palate. Great power, pitch perfect balance, and silky smooth elegance. A complete wine. Incredibly young for a 40 year old too - this could go on for another 40 easily. This one was a real experience. Far and away the best Unico I have tried, and one of the best wines I have had for a long time. I can only imagine what this will taste like in a decade or two.
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Drank from a magnum bottle. Very expressive nose with some sweetness on the palate. Strawberry and cherry. Mouth coating on the palate but not the aggressive kind very fine with good finish of tobacco. Possibly WOTN.
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Opened at a 40th birthday party, alongside Latour, la Mission HB, Angelus, Montrose, Giscours, as well as a 68-70-72, and a 70-72-73 Riserva Especial... and this was the WOTN. Coffee nose, strong midpalate with some toffee after taste. Have had better bottles, but was enjoyable.
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The color of the wine is still dark and young. It possesses a ruby red rim yet it seems to be lighter than it actually is since it is translucent. The bouquet on the wine is very complex and alluring. It has a typical Bordeaux nose with a Spanish twist. The French side boasts dark fruits, pencil shavings, floral components, slight cigar aromas, sweaty horse saddle, and a slight earthy funk; the Spanish side on the other hand, clearly shows the classic Tempranillo aromas of pepper, spices (mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, basil, and a pinch of brown sugar), sour red fruits, and some cedar. On the palate this wine shows a more classical approach to winemaking, creating a balanced food friendly wine that does not overpower food. The flavors persist throughout the palate showing crisp red and black fruits, a balanced acidity that activates your taste buds, with a smooth velvety texture with caressing tannins. The flavors persist for a minute plus, this is a very amazing wine that is very balanced with at least 10 more years potential. From magnum bottle.
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Great fill level, top shoulder, nice. Decanted 30 minutes. Crazy good nose, you can sniff this all night, cigar wrapper, coffee, basil leaf, dried potpourri, blue fruits, leather, loaded!!! Needed more time to evaluate this wine. The color, forget it, looks 15 years younger than it was. Lots of acidity on the palate, blue fruits, tabacco, tannins clamp down on the finish. Wish I could have tasted this after a few hours.
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Vanilla and melted butter on the nose (a great white Burg nose I must say!), chocolate spice in the mouth and what a long finish. Crushed the 1970 Palmer it followed. A grand wine.
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1970 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único (Spanje, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero) Kleur: Oranjebruin Aroma / bouquet: Fragiel en rijp, subtiel zoetig, zachtzoete drop, mokka / tabak, beetje maggi Smaak / Afdronk: Mooie zachte zuren, in de mond jeugdiger dan het bouquet doet vermoeden, boterzachte tannines maar met voldoende power. Veel lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: Een absolute koning. Na 39 jaar nog rechtop overeind. Prachtig bouquet, in de mond nog steeds vitaal. Wordt niet mooier, maar er kan vermoedelijk nog lang van genoten worden. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 18 + Algemeen / potentieel: 10 = 96/100
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Still shows the seductive deep colour. Very clean, hints of wonderful fruit, leather, Rioja's scent lies underneath....nice !! The texture is silky, delicious.........nice !! The aftertaste is slowly flown down to fill my empty heart and stays there very long....more than nice !!
Honey honey how you thrill me a-ha... Honey honey nearly kill me... I'd heard about you before... I wanted to know some more... And now I'm about to see... What you mean to me...
The aftertaste of 100/100 wine but the nose and body's structure are not splendid...I would rate it 95-97/100...
Drink beautifully now.
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LdC 4th Annual Truffle Dinner (Primehouse): Full cherry red color. Beguiling nose of cola spice red fruit with bright black fruit notes as well. Lovely spicey red and black fruit on the palate with great complexity. This one is drinking a point. 94-95 pts.
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Ethereal huge big structured wine. Just superbly well balanced with powerful pronounced flavors of ripe fruit cedar and oak. This wine is deceptive for its age. It is doing beautifully and will do so for another 50 years. Awesome!!
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dinnner with the astor kids: full dark color, makes me think of bulls blood. Stinky right out of the bottle, leathery with dark cherry and earth, minerally, shale, a hint of citrus, super sweet wood notes, a bit of carob, and a seductive cough drop note. very complex and dynamic nose. This is showing a bit more elegantly than previous bottles, perfectly integrated, a muscular dancer, earthy fresh fruit in the mouth with very vibrant red fruits, tightly coiled strawberries on the finish which is richly minerally and delicately tobacco tinged. A consistently great bottle of wine.
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An Evening of Vega Sicilia Unico. (Post House.): Always a treat to try and a real tour-de-force when it's on, luckily, this bottle was. Unfortunately, the wine wasn't decanted, so we really didn't get the wine's full impact. I did, however, leave the wine in my glass almost the entire evening and it kept getting better and better. It didn't have the intense liqueur-like raspberry fruit like the last bottle I had, rather it seemed almost Barolo-like with it's red cherry, cement dust, earth and cedar notes, though it showed more of a meat note than I usually get in Barolo. Still going strong on the palate. Youthful structure with elemental complexity that showed similarly to the aroma profile. Gorgeous. A+.
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Warm up in the High Country (Beaver Creek): This was a fabulous wine, as usual. A little funk that blew off soon, and it was great Vega. Leve was not sure what to make of it, out of his comfort zone, and followed his beloved La La. The 70 Vega is a really good wine, and always a pleasure to drink.
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Deeply extracted, mostly reddish purple with a trace of bricking near rim. Bursting with fresh dark fruit aromas and many layers of floral and spice notes. On the palate these notes spread out to fill the palate with flavor and took on even more depth. There was plenty of structure but it was perfectly and seamlessly integrated into a greater whole and lead to a finish that was incredibly long. I was struck with both how 'young' this wine seemed and how all the multiple notes going on became so well knit and balanced. Pure pleasure.
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We chose to buy this in magnum because of provenance - the magnums were bottled and released only a few years back. Hence drinking it from this format was undoubtedly different than drinking an original release of the wine, but it was an incredibly compelling experience. For one, the wine seemed both new and old at the same time - the age was evident in the length, complexity, and flavor characteristics, but at the same time the wine retained an extraordinary vitality unlike almost any other wine I've ever tasted. Over three hours of sniffing and tasting, it continually retained a freshness as if we had just opened the bottle, even as it revealed different facets of its personality. It was light and silky in texture, and unabashedly Old World in style. Among the multitude of flavors we accounted for were coffee, cola, cigar-smoke, candied plums, black currant, green pepper, cedar, and caramel. This was easily one of the most special wines I've ever had - I'm sure the memory will linger for a long time.
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Healthy color doesn’t belie its age. American oak on the nose. Bit of oxidation. Silky low acid texture. Cigar box. Cedar. Another taster thought this was over the hill. Apparently this wasn’t released until 1995!
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Pre Auction Wine Tasting w/ lots of Sassicaia (NYC): Dark center, with a garnet rim. Great nose of spicy fruit, caramel, chestnuts, cinnamin, etc. Very complex. Great mouthfeel, and an endles sweet cedary finish. A great wine.
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Served at Zalacain by Custodio Lopez Zamarra, this was at the time the most perfect wine I had ever tasted, seemingly going on and on. You should try it at least once in your life.
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2/16/2024 - shifter Likes this wine: 97 Points
Jon's 50th Birthday Dinner: Opened for 4 hours. Really spectacular tonight with an earthy, but bright nose and great structure and silky smooth palate. A very singular wine.
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1/20/2024 - aquacongas wrote: 99 Points
Not blind
A perfect matured red wine with timeless class and elegance. No hurry but at his peak. I prefer it to the 64/66/70 Especial we had side by side. 99-100
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10/17/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Vega Sicilia Unico Dinner with Pablo Alvarez (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): Fully mature black cherry and plum, very balanced and spiced, just lacking the great depth of my previous bottle a few months ago. Slightly drying finish, but still wonderful.
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10/17/2023 - Nanda wrote: 95 Points
Acker Vega Sicilia dinner with Pablo Álvarez (Asador Bastian): 53/66/70. This is bold and fresh with plenty going on but not as expressive and precise as a bottle from a few months ago, nor as commanding as the 53 and 66 in the same flight.
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9/22/2023 - MarcGMEHofman Likes this wine: 99 Points
This bottle of 53 years old was awesome; the wine opened in the glass and perfect aromas developed. It is now at its maximum: a tiny shade of brown started to appear in the wine. In summary: the friends I consumed this magnum bottle with were 100% complimentary about the superb quality.
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8/31/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 98 Points
End-of-Summer Dinner Featuring Vega-Sicilia Único (Asador Bastian - Chicago IL): Base neck fill. In Unico flight. Complex fresh, mature, and dried fruit. Vibrant and brilliant with so much perfectly pitched black fruit featuring meat, spice, and such elegant structure. Wow, this is one of the two or three best wines I have had this year.
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8/31/2023 - Nanda wrote: 98 Points
Wine of the night in a line-up of stars. Epic aromas that are wildly intense, full and layered with so much going on. Palate is remarkably youthful and rich with gorgeous poise. A legendary wine.
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8/23/2023 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 98 Points
Les Degustateurs last tasting for a dear friend (Smyth and the Loyalist Chicago, IL): Bordeaux style but not. Beautiful color, shows some age (can you believe 53 years) awesome palate, just outstanding.
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8/3/2023 - nyquesty Likes this wine: 96 Points
Leather tones with deep plumb bouquet. Drinking very fresh - undoubtedly will drink into 2030; depending on how well it's kept. Patience is a virtue with this 53-year-old beauty.
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7/3/2023 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 95 Points
Another incredible showing of the Vega with so much freshness and energy. It had a mouth-coating palate with long finish.
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3/9/2023 - grub94 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Bright light garnet. Amazingly youthful but with a full spectrum of tertiary scents and flavors. Could just nose this wine for hours....amazing. Leather, cigar box, deep cherry and plum fruits, forest floor, savory spice. Some high end red Burg qualities. Glad to have a couple more.
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1/10/2023 - jhngo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Initially lots of cork funk but it blew off revealing a tart fruit with smooth finish.
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9/8/2022 - edog22 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Brown sugar, juniper, cassis. Delicate with a lovely finish
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9/6/2022 - beatles wrote: 98 Points
Out of this world. En danseuse, so light, so elegant, just dancing ovre the palate. I'm in love
#El Cellar de Can Rocca #JubileTasting
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6/12/2022 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 97 Points
It is a wine that I first took pleasure in tasting on the nose, it is so magnificent: graphite, tobacco, leather, spices, bright black fruit... A real farandole of flavors.
On the palate, the wine is delicate. A Burgundian profile in a Bordeaux construction. It is first of all the freshness that strikes for a 55-year-old wine! Everything is harmonious, starting with this mix between violet and black fruit, sprinkled with spice and notes of leather, power and elegance at the same time... The wine is complete and imposes its presence in a completely natural. Masterful finish, all in delicacy on aromas of tobacco and undergrowth which stretches to infinity.
A great Vega.
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6/11/2022 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 95 Points
Another stellar sample that benefits from a few hour of air. It is layered, resolved and penetrating.
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3/11/2022 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
Some Wine Tasted at the Zachys La Paulée Auction; 3/10/2022-3/11/2022 (Le Bernardin Prive - New York NY): Small pour, brief note. How does this wine stay this fresh? Dense, denser, densest with impeccable balance.
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2/5/2022 - GonzaloManzaneda Likes this wine: 98 Points
Tremendo vino otra vez. Pura potencia y complejidad. Marcado por el cabernet pero cero aromas de pimiento, maduración perfecta. Deu meu, qué grande.
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7/31/2021 - KeyMaster Likes this wine: 98 Points
Souper retrouvailles 2021; 7/31/2021-8/1/2021 (Maison): Hallucinant! Quel fantastique vin et le restera surement encore pour plusieurs années.
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7/29/2021 - jhngo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very young and ripe. Crazy.
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1/29/2021 - Vmaster007 Likes this wine: 98 Points
one of the best wines I've tasted, the pairing with a cochonillo de Segovia was perfect. a moment of meditation
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12/19/2020 - phynes wrote: 92 Points
Drank alongside the Eglise Clinet 1982. I found the EC stunning. A vibrant colour, a fragrant nose, a harmonious mid-palate and a smooth finish. Definitely an earthy / woody taste to it that might not be to everyone’s liking but I found it superb. The VS I found enjoyable but a bit too port-like and tired. 97 for the ‘82 Eglise Clinet and 92 for the Vega Sicilia 1970. One difference was that the EC has been in my cellar for a long time whereas I bought the VS at auction, and thus storage may have played a role with the latter. Still, extremely privileged to be able to drink wines like these two.
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11/26/2020 - joseduca Likes this wine: 95 Points
Incredible that a 50 years old wine can maintain this strength and complexity. Great nose and body, perfect even with a bit of airing. Cork in good shape, fantastic effort. Enjoy for another ten years.
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10/31/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful and youthful bottle. Having fully absorbed its wood, now requires more time to develop more secondary notes. Bright and energetic fruit with underlying dark soil tones. 94-95
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10/18/2020 - aquacongas wrote: 100 Points
TobI's Firework (Berens am Kai 1 star Restaurant): blind
guessed Bordeaux, a timeless Beauty. Everything is at the right place. Black currant, cherry, soft, melted tannins. Power with elegance. at his peak but no hurry. 100
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10/17/2020 - Lype Likes this wine:
Elegantly light and utterly seductive, light cherry flauvors, figs, hints of spices, minerality and appropriate level of acidity, everything about this vintage is in perfect harmony and balance, one of the best - if not the best vintage - in the vertical.
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10/10/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
A rather one-dimensional bottle, but with good underlying material. Still in need of significant additional evolution. Served blind.
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9/28/2020 - La Flama Blanca Likes this wine: 98 Points
This ÚNICOrn spent ten years aging in French barriques with an additional sixteen years in bottle before its eventual release in the late 1990s! Incredibly youthful and fresh showing a remarkable Bordeaux-like personality. Tasted double blind, the notes of crushed violets, cassis and mineral rich soil had me pegging this as 90 / 96 Margaux. Digging deeper, the Tempranillo blend reveals dried cherries, dark plums, savory herbs and sweet tobacco while displaying great focus and grip on the persistent finish. The total package, 1970 Único is sublime! 98+
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9/26/2020 - fclarity wrote: 95 Points
From two very good looking bottles with BN fills. This wine had a deep red center with light red/orange rims. The medium intensity nose went through a few stages. After 5 hours of air it showed plum, griotte cherry, figs, brown spices, and minerals.
In the mouth, this wine was rich, dense, and clearly old vines but still had lovely integration and great structure. It was quite tight at first and needed a lot of time to open up.
While there was some oakiness noticeable for the first couple hours, as the fruit opened up with air, the oak was pushed into the background.
This doesn't have the complexity of some wines. Is it still too young? This is a very good wine that is in the zone but will clearly last for decades.
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9/4/2020 - jhngo Likes this wine: 97 Points
Amazing. Great acids.
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8/26/2020 - Paul S wrote: 98 Points
Dog Year Wines (Yan, National Gallery, Singapore): This was simply amazing - even better than the tremendous magnum I had a decade or so back. The best wine in the midst of a very serious line-up, and probably one of the top 10 or 20 wines I can remember ever having. The nose was just beautiful, with lifted wafts of dried plums and cherries, honeyed dates, a twist of sweet American oak, and then drifts of fragrant smoke and sweet spices. Just wonderful - complex, alluring, seductive. Lovely. The palate simply floored me. Wow. How do I even begin to describe this - deep, powerful, generous, yet also effortless and elegant, with such purity and clarity to it. Perfeclt integrated, and the balance was just pristine. This just danced across the mouth with layer after effortless later of black cherry, blueberries and dark plum, all seasoned with a gentle infusion of spice and smoke, all drifting away into an inexorably long finish. This was fantastic. Intensity and complexity without a smidgen or weight on it. It’s bottles like this that make me fall in love with wine all over again. A masterpiece, drinking at absolute peak now.
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7/12/2020 - MC wrote:
Wow, this is just great Vega Sicilia. PNP and enjoyed along with a few 1970 Bordeaux, including 2 first growths, and this was the WOTN for all. Dark red, deep, oak still shows but integrated very nicely. Long finish. This one didn't last long. Great wine. A
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5/28/2020 - Jammy Wine wrote: 96 Points
The 1970 Vega Sicilia is very close quality to the 1968 Unico. Incredibly youthful, as absurd as it may sound, this 48 year old wine is too young to drink!
Swee fruits with new oak cinnamon and vanilla spices. Deeply flavoured dark fruits and rich backbone. Meaty and dense, but less savoury 1968. The 1970 is slightly less complex than the 1968. The youthfulness is almost like a 1996 Bordeaux. Subtle ripe jammy fruits, mocha and autumn forest floor with a solid oak tone. Masculine.
96+/100
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4/8/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dense and still quite young as this wine goes. All the material here for this to go the distance and evolve nicely
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2/20/2020 - rSyver wrote: 97 Points
As last time I had this, back in 2011, fill just above the neck, 80% soaked cork yet easy to pop. Deep red colour with a water edge - never would I have guess that this wine turns 50 this year.
Complex nose where the list of nuances is long; but the mature fruit is great - and mixed with still (!!) a quite young cool red fruit this is nothing what I would expect from a wine at this age, however the memories from 2011 coming back to mind. This is such a great wine, the palate and the nose mirror each other greatly, the elegance, the extremely long finish. It improves with air during the evening.
i would not be surprised to see this wine live greatly for a few more decades. However, comparing my notes from 2011 to the ones this night there is really not that much of a difference - just equally great as then. Drink now - or prepare to be amazed when the right occasion appears.
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2/19/2020 - nywine68 wrote: 99 Points
Vega Sicilia Unico Vertical 1953-1994 (Hosted by Cedric at Eleven Madison Park): Amazing melange of flavors. This was opened 30 minutes before serving and then kept on opening up and evolving over the subsequent 3 hours. A massive deep, dark brooding wine with cigar box, prunes and hoisin sauce flavors. Great fruit intensity, length and depth. Remarkably young and fresh for a 50 year old wine. This will easily go for another 20+ years. WOTN for me.
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1/10/2020 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine:
Tasting with some crazy geeks (@Private location, Solingen): *** Brief notes for my own memory, no CT rating. Points expressed are only rough guidelines ***
Popped and poured. From perfect cellar. Deep garnet color. Wonderful, medium+ intense classic Unico nose. Very complex and elegant. Very young and fresh, perfectly balanced, herbaceous, some leather, tobacco, red fruit, wonderful length. 95-96
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11/28/2019 - jhngo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Delicious leather fruit smooth.
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7/20/2019 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fantastic clarity of dark red fruit. Strong edge to the palate. In need of another decade in the cellar for bottles such as this.
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4/28/2019 - Topper wrote: 96 Points
This is an extraordinary wine with depth, fullness and super complexity while staying light on its feet. I last had this in 2010 and it has lost just a drop of power since then, suggesting that at 39 years, it may be time to start drinking these before they fade. Had along side the 2000 version and the similarities were striking. There was no doubt that they were the same wine, made in the same way. I'd give that 2000 another 10 years.
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4/6/2019 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker April 2019 (Marea in NYC): Served originally as a mystery wine and I don't think I would have guessed. This had been opened and decanted and even with that it was still on the quieter side. It's not as intense as a truly young Unico with the very strong wood and all of that. Much more integrated. But some of the power I would have expected wasn't there, but there was a level of class to it too.
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4/6/2019 - hprphf wrote: 96 Points
Acker April Auction 2019 (sad day) (Marea): Stem, animal, flowers. Amazing purity and elegance on this smooth palate. 96
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2/6/2019 - petterkalle Likes this wine: 96 Points
Amazing bottle. Mature of course but still a lot of fruits. Barnyard. Nice tannins and acidity and a really long finish.
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11/15/2018 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 95 Points
From magnum. Nice bottle, composed and comfortable. Smooth palate with light savory spice notes. Upside in this format. 95+
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10/24/2018 - mdefreitas wrote: 98 Points
Vega Sicilia Unicos (Peppercorn's (Hartford, CT)): OMG, this was at a wonderful drinking spot. Fresh red fruits with some secondary dried fruit flavors just showing. Very claret-like, with a spicy, layered, velvety, mouth-filling palate. So packed with flavor. The tannins are still very robust, suggesting this still has quite a bit in the tank.
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8/7/2018 - BradE wrote:
Hard to say anything new on this vintage of Unico. Great bottle, great wine.
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8/5/2018 - MC wrote:
I believe this had about 30 minutes in the decanter before we had it. Following an oxidized '68 this was wonderful. Great fruit, with the oak certainly noticeable but working well with the fruit. Great balance and nice finish. This was great and the red of the evening. A
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7/29/2018 - Boone's Farm Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine is still in it's infancy. It is a big wine with dark fruit. The tannins are smooth. It is very long on the palate. However no tertiary flavors that I would expect. We drank it along with a 1958 Fontanna Freda and a 1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle and though I liked the Unico the other 2 wines clearly showed better
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5/5/2018 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 97 Points
The 70 also served blindly had a big opponent but nevertheless a tremendous wine. More Bordeaux style and still very fresh. Not reached his peak. 97+
1962. Perfect bottle. Served blindly. Nobody at the table guesed VS. I was "sure" it was not Bx, Burgundy and Australia. I thought more to an old California than VS. This time it deserves 100 because nose and palate are perfect. Still a subtle cherry and dark berries fruit, cigarbox, violet and a Burgundy extract sweetness. Elegant, dense and concentrated and a sublime fine finish. 100
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3/31/2018 - KenK Likes this wine: 95 Points
Linda's Birthday with Hanbun: From Magnum. Quite lovely with dark earthy red fruit character and an underlying hint of dark spices. Medium body, well balanced, and clearly showing some age, yet providing plenty of pleasure. My expectations were through the roof here and while excellent not quite the thrill I was expected. Excellent wine, but wanted a bit more zip. Will hold fine for years, but guessing time to drink up. Thanks JG what a way to celebrate LG Bday!
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3/31/2018 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 98 Points
Happy Birthday Linda with '80 Dom, '70 Vega, 100 yr old Tawny and others (Our home Northfield IL): Out of magnum. Timeless, brilliant color, incredible nose, lovey palate feel, long finish. Wow
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1/25/2018 - OenoEd Likes this wine: 96 Points
Incredibly seductive nose, like the rarest floral French perfume dripped over black earth and coffee grounds. Intense, powerful "iron fist in velvet glove", alive, evolving, lots of wet smoked cherries, and talc. Very well preserved, peak drinking, should hold another 5-10 years.
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1/2/2018 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 95 Points
Blood, pure and simple, greets the nose followed by a hint of oxidation, not the best bottle of this though there is still a terrific core of tobacco, dark cherry fruit, and sweet warm spices with just a hint of dried orange peel lending this a holiday tone. Absolutely terrific in the mouth, polished, rich, laced with minerals and bright acidity but not lacking great depth and richness of fruit. It’s not the best example of this but it’s still a fabulous wine. There’s almost a sweetness to this early on the palate and it not only has fine length but the finish is nuanced and changing, alternating between warm spice, tobacco, and warm dark cherry fruit. Very well knit, still structurally youthful as if that would possible, but the tannins here while well integrated are very present. The nose cleans up nicely revealing a fine waxy, beeswax element, hints of currant leap, stewed cherry fruit and that ever present backing note of warm wood spice all topped with a hint of roasted mocha and a fine green cardamom spice note. So well integrated, this is silky yet rich, broad shoulder but notably less powerful than the last few bottles. It’s advanced but not damaged per se. The fruit remains intact, lingering on the finish with a fine sweet/tart tension. Really long. Gains red apple skins and pine resin on the nose as the finish sweetens up retaining it phenomenal length. Later tobacco and herbs pop on the nose as the palate gains a little strawberry like freshness to the fruit.
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11/2/2017 - RayOB Likes this wine: 97 Points
Drank in HK
Still young with a incredible density of flavour. lovely.
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10/25/2017 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 96 Points
Took 4 hrs of slow ox to open up. Tobacco, dark fruit, spice and graphite on the nose and palate. Very good structure and high complexity. Kept evolving throughout the night. Still young from peak drinking window. A complete wine.
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12/25/2016 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 93 Points
Kleur: Fluwelig rood Aroma / bouquet: In de neus: Een waardige grijsaard met ballen. Belegen bouquet. Uitgesproken, verfijnd, complex. Uiterst tertiair. Gedroogd fruit,vleesjus. Maar niet wat ik zou verwachten van een WA 96-wijn. Tonen van vermoeidheid: soja, maggi, Madeira. Smaak / Afdronk: Mondvullend in een sublieme balans. Frisse zuurgraad, briljant gerijpte maar boterig zachte tannines, bescheiden alcoholpercentage. Indrukwekkend lange afdronk. Algemeen / potentieel: Prachtige Ribeira.Maar zeker geen wijn met nog een drinkbaarheidshorizon van enkele jaren. Nu drinken, over de top. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Smaak / Afdronk: 17 + Algemeen / potentieel: 9 = 93/100
Google Translate:
Color: Velvety red Aroma / bouquet: In the nose: A dignified old man with balls. Mature bouquet. Pronounced, sophisticated, complex. Extremely tertiary. Dried fruit, gravy. But not what I would expect from a WA-96 wine. Showing fatigue: soy, maggi, Madeira. Taste / Finish: Mouth filling in a sublime balance. Crisp acidity, brilliant matured but buttery soft tannins, moderate alcohol content. Impressively long finish General / potential: Nice Ribeira.Maar certainly not wine with a drinkability horizon of several years. Drink now. 50+ Color: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 12 + Taste / Finish: 17 + General / potential: 9 = 93/100
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12/2/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Black earth, dark fruit, good acid. Overall quite fresh but perhaps still to young. Not as expressive as some bottles and a clear presence of light wood notes. This bottle needed more time but still did not fully hint at the heights that this wine is capable of reaching. 93-94+
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11/26/2016 - Axelpeter wrote: 98 Points
-20 (Schm MöglB), unglaublich, großer Wein, voll da, feine Frucht, fast perfekt.,.(Gesamtsieger)
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10/19/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 87 Points
Vega Sicilia Unico Dinner with Pablo Alvarez (Betony): There is a bit of that maderizing sweetness in this one. Red and black liquorice. Overripe and tiring. Hot and spiced, don't care for this.
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9/12/2016 - wineappreciation wrote: 95 Points
Aged cherry, notes of vanilla, leather, cedar after rain; intense, distinguished, poised, a mellowed power and directness; beautifully structurally balanced; truly lovely; wish I had had more
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9/12/2016 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Had more of everything and was the unanimous wine of the bracket. The nose was so sweet and perfumed. There was some freshly grated ginger, vanilla, blood plum, cherry and purple flowers. It looks several decades younger and the palate has so much grunt but is not in the slightest way heavy. There’s serious chew to the finish despite the perfectly sweet ripeness of tannin. It feels like it needs another two or three decades to reach its eventual apogee.
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9/11/2016 - BradE wrote:
As always, this was a crowd pleaser. Beautiful Unico, and a pleasure to drink.
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9/2/2016 - wineordeath Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very rich palate, slightly sweet, some port edges, with juicy acidity, but still slighly fat.
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5/14/2016 - BradE wrote:
Rock solid, and for me WOTF in tough competition (62,68,70, 90 Riserva). Loved it.
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5/10/2016 - KenPlace Likes this wine: 97 Points
A wow wine from the start. Some VA initially, and very smoky. Still young at 46! WOTN
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4/14/2016 - Dawid Likes this wine: 99 Points
Absolutely stunning, brilliant wine. So Incredibly vibrant at 46 its easy to imagine it will still give great pleasure in another 50 years. Drunk with roasted squab pigeon at Francois Audouze dinner #198 at 67 Pall Mall.
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4/12/2016 - RayOB Likes this wine: 97 Points
An Evening with Francois Audouze (67 Pall Mall): Young and vibrant like it was 5 years old. This really is a remarkable vintage of Unico with no sense of ageing whatsoever. Primary fruits on the nose with a silky smooth palate with get acidic depth and clarity. Lovely.
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1/18/2016 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
beautiful wine, but seems still very young and a bit tight. Believe this will need another 10 years to show its best. Amazing material. More Pomerol than Rioja for me.
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9/26/2015 - Stefanos T. Likes this wine:
I see so high scores from other tasters so I'm not going to score it myself for two reasons, first it came after 10 bottles (the two previous being a 2004 Romanee Conti Richebourg and the other a 2003 Lafite) of other wine so palate fatigue did not allow me to fully appreciate and secondly although typical Vega with VA and dark fruit, mollases etc., it had a mouldy aroma which could possibly be a fault of that particular bottle.
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9/25/2015 - Yiannis wrote: 89 Points
Celebrating Yiannis Karakassis' Master of Wine Entitlement (Food Mafia Restaurant, Glyfada, Greece): This was quite evolved and obviously past its best. Intense coffee and leather on the nose alongside truffles. Medium-bodied with soft tannins but the fruit has started to fade. Med+ aftertaste.
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5/15/2015 - Aglenardi Likes this wine: 95 Points
The best Unico ever!! Bery serious effort from Vega Sicilia. Drink side by side with '81. Very complex nose of fruits and berries, integrated soft tannin and long finish
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5/7/2015 - jhngo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Need time to open and integrate. Very pretty wine.
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4/16/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Vega Sicilia Dinner with Pablo Alvarez (Tenzing - Chicago IL): Open and decanted for a few hours before serving. Black fruit with good spice. Nicely fresh, but less length, power and intensity than better bottles I've had in the past. But this kept getting more complete and interesting with more time in glass.
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1/19/2015 - Eric wrote: 93 Points
Pre Davos Wine Forum tasting (Zumikon, Switzerland): Lighter in color. Soy and mineral on the nose. A clean, pure, very pretty palate.
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11/6/2014 - Los 12 Glotones Likes this wine: 100 Points
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Els12golafres Wine Tasting Group: http://vinosclasicos.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/vega-sicilia-unico-1970-magnum.html
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Espectacular color rubí granatoso de capa media-alta, de fuerte extracción, tapado, de enorme limpieza. Reflejos granadinos y ambarinos, luminoso, brillante. Borde mínimo, cobrizo, muy marcado repecto el menisco.
Como medida preventiva esta botella fue abierta 5 horas antes de meterle mano. Ni siquiera así fue suficiente... Un pedazo de señor vino que no se desmelena por mucho que lo jarreemos en copa!! Intimida por su pureza y severidad inicial, entregándose a cuenta gotas con tacañería. Apenas llegamos a entrever su profundidad sísmica. Lo que sale de él es glorioso: fruta negra, tinta china y un fondo en el que la manteca de cacao se infusiona en un copazo de minerales y térreos. Un vino telúrico, complicado, exigente, que renuncia a la instintiva elegancia de la casa para echar zanjas en los adentros del viñedo de Valbuena. Esta botella continua anclada en el viñedo.
En boca es un desafío al paso del tiempo. Íntegro, entero como un bloque de cemento, de estructura pétrea y belleza natural. Lo que nos va dando es todo de carácter "terroirifico": hollejos, zarzal, tierra, envuelto en un hábito vaporoso, aterciopelado, que levita sin tocar el suelo del que proviene. Este vino rezuma verdad. Hermoso a más no poder, como ningún otro vino. El recuerdo nos lo llevaremos a la tumba.
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70% tinto fino, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot, 3% malbec - 13% vol.
Acabado el proceso de fermentación alcohólica realizó la maloláctica en tinos viejos de madera de gran capacidad donde permaneció a lo largo de 5 años. A continuación se trasvasó a bidones de madera usados y progresivamente a otros más usados durante un total de 10 años. El resto en botella hasta su comercialización a lo largo del año 2000. Producción limitada a 94.500 botellas de 75 cl. y 2.000 magnum.
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8/19/2014 - dream Likes this wine: 97 Points
Perhaps the WOTN in a fabulous dinner at 11 Madison featuring the best vintages of Unico from 1960-1996. The wine is just gorgeously sweet with age and has this wonderful silkiness to the texture. Full-bodied but beautifully balanced and it builds to a fabulously complex finish with notes of sweet tobacco, herbs and minerals. Seemless and refined as well as oozing and layered, this is Vega Sicilia at its best with continued room for upside. 97+
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8/14/2014 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 98 Points
A spectacular bottle. Rich sweet fruit with a fragrant and perfumed nose. Wet rocks in the background. Super smooth on the palate with mature but still focused fruit (black raspberry predominant) and a range of background flavors including earth, thyme and cedar. Served without a decant but allowed to open up over 1.5 hours. May be nearing a peak but still has a lot of time left
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5/17/2014 - Javachip wrote: 98 Points
San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 5/17/2014 (Grant Grill, U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego): 70% tempranillo, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot and malbec. Aged five years in large wooden "envases," another ten years in barriques, then bottled and cellared at the estate until release in 1995. Decanted gently about 30 minutes before tasting. Clear dark garnet-blood red color. Forgive me for waxing poetic with this wine. The act of leaning one's nose toward a glass of Unico is akin to leaning forward in one's seat in the concert hall, listening for the first notes of Massenet's opera Don Quixote. The first impression is sweet gun oil. Instantly I am transported through time and space to the Spanish countryside under Franco's rule, where I sit on a horse, carrying a pristine, freshly oiled antique hunting rifle with walnut stock. In my saddle bag, fresh red cherries and earthy black truffles for a picnic lunch. These are the aromas, flavors, sights and sounds I experienced with this wine. Seaquam offered a more conventional assessment, noting some qualities of mineral and lead pencil, and comparing the wine to a Lafite or Latour from a ripe vintage. A noble, profound wine, wearing the patina of age effortlessly, as it will for decades to come. My #2, group's SECOND PLACE in this flight.
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2/14/2014 - hongkongtom Likes this wine: 96 Points
From Greg - bright, very aged on the rim, on the nose - secondary aroma with nutmeg and leather, dry fruits such as figs and dates, on the mouth - confirms dry fruits, plus cinnamon and integrated tannins. conclusion - a perfect vega to be drunk within the next 5-7 years
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11/24/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
This compelling, showing stopper of a wine does not quit. The bouquet, with its earth, black cherry, licorice, smoke and spicy personality does not let go. On the palate, the wine is deep, concentrated and long, with freshness, spice and a nutty quality that remains in your mouth for close to 60 seconds.
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6/25/2013 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
Bud's 70th at Ortega Fish Shack (Ortega Fish Shack, Wellington, New Zealand): This looks like a ten year old bordeaux, although the huge American oak derived nose brings one to Spain in a hurry. Fabulous aromatics that feature in addition to the aforementioned oak, blackcurrants, coconut, cedar and warm dried herbal nuance. The palate is exquisite - very reminiscent of first growth bordeaux in proportion and structure. Still youthful and capable of aging for 20 more years (at least), I think this is a ear profound wine that is without doubt a compelling example of Unico. This will get better but is flirting with the extraordinary right now. 96+ points.
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5/18/2013 - Old Vino Likes this wine: 97 Points
Simply put - this is a WOW wine from A through Z. My wife and I brought this bottle for a birthday dinner. Pulled it out of cellar and placed in an upright position for 3 days. P&P into decanter slowly and w/out need for strainer. Last 20 mL kept in bottle which had all sediment. Clear ruby red color with brownish reflection. Poured in glass after 20 minutes of air time. Nose jumps from glass with macerated wild berries, leather, forest soil, and green celery stick - may be basil? On palate, the tannins had mellowed and integrated. Not a bit of heat. It saturates all mouth with wonderful mixture of black and blue fruit. Slightly sweet vegetal hint which Laurel thought it most resembled honeydew melon! Finish is super long. While fully mature, there is no rush to drink this beauty which could easily go for one more decade. Highest score we have given in 2 years. +97
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5/18/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Still young at close to 45 years of age, this incredibly powerful rich, intense, full bodied, exotic wine is packed with dense layers of fresh blackberries, spice, kirsch liqueur, earth, minerals, smoke and ripe, sweet tannins, This has the structure to age and evolve for ages.
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2/15/2013 - BradE wrote:
A good if not great bottle of 70 Unico. This wine can kick it big time, and this was enjoyable but not what it can be.
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11/17/2012 - steinersing wrote: 97 Points
Dinner at Guy Savoy Singapore: had three different bottles - all stellar - open, lush, opulent
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10/30/2012 - jlgnml wrote: 96 Points
Great color, bright, young on the palate, deep flavor, awesome depth, no hint of aging.
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10/30/2012 - KenK wrote: 97 Points
Grapes for Great Causes (Goosefoot Restaurant, Chicago): From Magnum: Dark black fruit nose with loads of cinnamon, netmeg, and allspice, quite impressive.
Palate followed through showing dry spicy quailty with nice dried red fruits and good underlying sweetness. Nice backbone gives lift and wonderful balance. More masuline in style with loads going on here. Slightly rustic, yet pretty.This one is all avout the spice box quality. Really wish could hace another glass. Classic.
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9/25/2012 - rnellans wrote: 98 Points
A big boy. Everything that the '68 had and more. Leather, dark fruit, mocha, some tar. Power. Dusty tannins on the finnish…Needs time. 98 pts.
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9/22/2012 - BradE wrote:
We had a trio of Unico - 62. 68, and 70. Notes:
The 1962 (bottle # 50459) was a very good bottle from a case with lots of variability. The fruit was less forward than the others, but what was there was terrific. A great showing.
The 1968 kicked it up a notch. There was a bit of back and forth between 62 and 68 - both were terrific and call it a draw.
Then the 1970 arrived. Wow, what a full palate. Fresh. Its really the great Unico that people talk about when they talk 1970. Consensus best of flight.
All of these were purchased in Europe 15+ years ago, and the provenance showed. Great showing, reminds me why I fell in love with Unico back in the day.
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9/10/2012 - 83AJ wrote: 90 Points
brownish-red color, heavy dark(er) fruits with a real nice sweet finish. Decanted for 1hr should be at least 2. No issue with the experience just nothing like the great '68 I had last month. The Vega Unico '70 is great to have around when you need something to talk about, but don't pay up to buy this wine today. Drink today, next year and in 20 years.
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5/13/2012 - fclarity wrote: 93 Points
From an excellent looking bottle with a bottom neck fill, this wine looked strong with a deep red/purple center and some oranging on the rim.
The medium+ intensity nose showed blackberry, plum, sage, and soil but was a bit unbalanced by a dollop of American oak.
In the mouth, this wine was ripe and round with a nice supple texture. It also had great length and complexity. While this wine seems to be in the early stages of its drinking window, I am not sure if the oakiness in the nose will be absorbed or not.
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1/7/2012 - RJ&JJ wrote: 96 Points
I cannot say it any better than these other guys/gals... but this is one awesome wine... I like what one other said... the color is not indicative of a wine so old. The cord was soaked almost to the end. And the nose... yeah, I could sniff it all night... if I had not drank it all... one awesome bottle of wine.
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10/5/2011 - BradKNYC wrote:
Nine 1970 Rioja with a Vega Sicilia ringer. (Il Corso): Greg didn't have a '70 Rioja, so he brought this as a ringer instead. Ok. I guess we'll accept it. An excellent showing for this legend, though perhaps holding back just a tiny bit in comparison to other bottles I've tried that have been a little more effusive. The wine seems suspended in time with its youthful and vigorous personality and structure. It shows beautiful aromatics of beef blood, baked earth, black raspberry, spice and a bit of menthol. Rich, yet perfectly balanced in the mouth with terrific length. Similar flavors as aromas with a strong blood note. A seemingly immortal wine and always a wonderful treat to try. A+/A.
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9/17/2011 - rSyver wrote: 97 Points
Filling just above the neck, cork almost completely soaked. Quite deep red on the colour, water edge but not that much brick really.
The nose is more of an elegant one; there are so many scents it is hard to describe but barnyard, mature red fruits, hints of oak, coffee, chocolate and a layer of tee to mention some of them. The list is evidently long. The acid is great, great fruit that follows all the way and mirrors the complexity of the nose. The finish kind of decreases before increasing and just remaining there for a long time. Delicious! It actually improves with some time in the glass as well and becomes more intense.
Tempting to compare it to the Ygay -59 which is the first one coming to mind, however the elegance is much more present. It is just much more delicate all the way. No need to rush remaining bottles, however it is really there now.
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6/18/2011 - BradE wrote:
Didn't show as well as this wine (and this case) usually do. Maybe it was the tuna tacos we paired it with.
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3/9/2011 - la turque wrote: 98 Points
Wow! Beautiful, velvety fruit, soft tannins, soft acidity, great balance; a sweet, rich, beautiful wine. Alas, my only bottle.
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11/7/2010 - Topper wrote: 97 Points
Purchased from the wine list at Troquet Boston which has had it since release. Most of my Vega experience has been with 'younger' bottles from the 90s and this was truly a revelation. I liked the description of this wine by Paul S so I won't repeat what he had to say but aside from beautiful aromatics, color, body and flavor, the most remarkable element was the finish which was not simply incredibly long but was one of the most intense experiences I have had while drinking wine. The finish had a kind of explosive quality which grabbed your throat and just wouldn't let go. Absolutely unique and remarkable. A marvel.
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10/2/2010 - wallstreet wrote:
A wonderful bottle of wine. Age is very evident, but in no way is this over the hill. Can last another two decades. While I loved this wine, I think I enjoyed the 89 I had a tad better. This is the real McCoy. This will even please the most jaded Bordeaux lover into venturing out of their comfort zone.
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10/2/2010 - Serge Birbrair wrote:
Some smoke on the nose, sweetness on the palate and my only wish we had the bottle from start to finish to see it's transformation. Lovely wine by all accounts.
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9/17/2010 - Paul S wrote: 97 Points
Tok Hong's 40th (Infuzi, Biopolis): From a magnum. I was floored by this one. A profound, profound wine that quite belies any description. The nose showed deep, deep reservoirs of dark fruits all tightly wound together, earth, vanilla, and a spike of orange fizz, pepper, menthol, smoke. Deeply brooding. A world away from the exuberant, seductive '70 Tondonia, but no less impressive. A pause, on to the palate, and woah! This was something else. Mindblowing, show-stopping - everyone on the table went speechless for awhile as they took their first sips. It was just absolutely seamless, with mouth-coating flavours of black fruits, spice, smoke, a little tar, a touch of chocolate, all so wonderful integrated that it came across as one glorious beam of deep flavours just sweeping majestically across the breadth of the palate, with a pull of wood and spice streaming along below. Bordeaux like at points with its fine structure and dark fruited depths, but it reminded me more of a top-end Musigny than anything else in the way it carried such elegance and complexity, yet somehow still coming across as a powerful, almost monolithic wine. An archetypal iron fist in a velvet glove. The finish just sealed the whole deal. Awesome length, incredible integration again, it just filled the mouth with plums, cassis and dark cherries, all wrapped in a little grip of the finest tannins that refused to release their hold on the palate. Great power, pitch perfect balance, and silky smooth elegance. A complete wine. Incredibly young for a 40 year old too - this could go on for another 40 easily. This one was a real experience. Far and away the best Unico I have tried, and one of the best wines I have had for a long time. I can only imagine what this will taste like in a decade or two.
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9/17/2010 - astroman wrote:
Drank from a magnum bottle.
Very expressive nose with some sweetness on the palate. Strawberry and cherry. Mouth coating on the palate but not the aggressive kind very fine with good finish of tobacco. Possibly WOTN.
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9/15/2010 - Dubie wrote: 91 Points
Opened at a 40th birthday party, alongside Latour, la Mission HB, Angelus, Montrose, Giscours, as well as a 68-70-72, and a 70-72-73 Riserva Especial... and this was the WOTN. Coffee nose, strong midpalate with some toffee after taste. Have had better bottles, but was enjoyable.
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8/25/2010 - Gobi wrote: 95 Points
The color of the wine is still dark and young. It possesses a ruby red rim yet it seems to be lighter than it actually is since it is translucent. The bouquet on the wine is very complex and alluring. It has a typical Bordeaux nose with a Spanish twist. The French side boasts dark fruits, pencil shavings, floral components, slight cigar aromas, sweaty horse saddle, and a slight earthy funk; the Spanish side on the other hand, clearly shows the classic Tempranillo aromas of pepper, spices (mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, basil, and a pinch of brown sugar), sour red fruits, and some cedar. On the palate this wine shows a more classical approach to winemaking, creating a balanced food friendly wine that does not overpower food. The flavors persist throughout the palate showing crisp red and black fruits, a balanced acidity that activates your taste buds, with a smooth velvety texture with caressing tannins. The flavors persist for a minute plus, this is a very amazing wine that is very balanced with at least 10 more years potential. From magnum bottle.
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4/20/2010 - robertgoulet wrote: 94 Points
Great fill level, top shoulder, nice. Decanted 30 minutes. Crazy good nose, you can sniff this all night, cigar wrapper, coffee, basil leaf, dried potpourri, blue fruits, leather, loaded!!! Needed more time to evaluate this wine. The color, forget it, looks 15 years younger than it was. Lots of acidity on the palate, blue fruits, tabacco, tannins clamp down on the finish. Wish I could have tasted this after a few hours.
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3/25/2010 - Dubie wrote: 96 Points
Vanilla and melted butter on the nose (a great white Burg nose I must say!), chocolate spice in the mouth and what a long finish. Crushed the 1970 Palmer it followed. A grand wine.
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1/11/2010 - Le Musigny wrote: 97 Points
Awesome bottle, sweet chocolate flavors
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10/20/2009 - Rupert wrote: 94 Points
Thirty vintages of Vega Sicilia Único 1953-1999; 10/20/2009-10/21/2009 (Institute of Directors, London): Dark, vigorous, rich dried cherry chocolate fruit, substantial complex wine, the most powerful tonight
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7/12/2009 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 96 Points
1970 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único (Spanje, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero) Kleur: Oranjebruin Aroma / bouquet: Fragiel en rijp, subtiel zoetig, zachtzoete drop, mokka / tabak, beetje maggi Smaak / Afdronk: Mooie zachte zuren, in de mond jeugdiger dan het bouquet doet vermoeden, boterzachte tannines maar met voldoende power. Veel lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: Een absolute koning. Na 39 jaar nog rechtop overeind. Prachtig bouquet, in de mond nog steeds vitaal. Wordt niet mooier, maar er kan vermoedelijk nog lang van genoten worden. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 18 + Algemeen / potentieel: 10 = 96/100
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5/19/2009 - xiconeta wrote: 97 Points
Extraordinary!. Complex and driven to sensations. Tobacco, red fruit, mentol, euchaliptus.
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2/12/2009 - noppakit s. wrote: 96 Points
Still shows the seductive deep colour.
Very clean, hints of wonderful fruit, leather, Rioja's scent lies underneath....nice !!
The texture is silky, delicious.........nice !!
The aftertaste is slowly flown down to fill my empty heart and stays there very long....more than nice !!
Honey honey how you thrill me a-ha...
Honey honey nearly kill me...
I'd heard about you before...
I wanted to know some more...
And now I'm about to see...
What you mean to me...
The aftertaste of 100/100 wine but the nose and body's structure are not splendid...I would rate it 95-97/100...
Drink beautifully now.
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1/9/2009 - Burgundy Al wrote: 96 Points
Fourth Annual White Truffle Dinner (David Burke's Primehouse - Chicago IL): Black fruit with great spice and sensational earthy notes in the background. Incredibly powerful for a wine its age, with great textures and layers. Long, balanced finish.
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1/9/2009 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
LdC 4th Annual Truffle Dinner (Primehouse): Full cherry red color. Beguiling nose of cola spice red fruit with bright black fruit notes as well. Lovely spicey red and black fruit on the palate with great complexity. This one is drinking a point. 94-95 pts.
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11/15/2007 - jhngo wrote: 100 Points
Ethereal huge big structured wine. Just superbly well balanced with powerful pronounced flavors of ripe fruit cedar and oak. This wine is deceptive for its age. It is doing beautifully and will do so for another 50 years. Awesome!!
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10/16/2007 - BradE wrote:
Great wine, great shape.
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5/17/2007 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 97 Points
dinnner with the astor kids: full dark color, makes me think of bulls blood. Stinky right out of the bottle, leathery with dark cherry and earth, minerally, shale, a hint of citrus, super sweet wood notes, a bit of carob, and a seductive cough drop note. very complex and dynamic nose. This is showing a bit more elegantly than previous bottles, perfectly integrated, a muscular dancer, earthy fresh fruit in the mouth with very vibrant red fruits, tightly coiled strawberries on the finish which is richly minerally and delicately tobacco tinged. A consistently great bottle of wine.
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11/9/2006 - BradKNYC wrote:
An Evening of Vega Sicilia Unico. (Post House.): Always a treat to try and a real tour-de-force when it's on, luckily, this bottle was. Unfortunately, the wine wasn't decanted, so we really didn't get the wine's full impact. I did, however, leave the wine in my glass almost the entire evening and it kept getting better and better. It didn't have the intense liqueur-like raspberry fruit like the last bottle I had, rather it seemed almost Barolo-like with it's red cherry, cement dust, earth and cedar notes, though it showed more of a meat note than I usually get in Barolo. Still going strong on the palate. Youthful structure with elemental complexity that showed similarly to the aroma profile. Gorgeous. A+.
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6/8/2006 - BradE wrote:
Warm up in the High Country (Beaver Creek): This was a fabulous wine, as usual. A little funk that blew off soon, and it was great Vega. Leve was not sure what to make of it, out of his comfort zone, and followed his beloved La La. The 70 Vega is a really good wine, and always a pleasure to drink.
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11/20/2005 - thomaskeil wrote: 98 Points
Deeply extracted, mostly reddish purple with a trace of bricking near rim. Bursting with fresh dark fruit aromas and many layers of floral and spice notes. On the palate these notes spread out to fill the palate with flavor and took on even more depth. There was plenty of structure but it was perfectly and seamlessly integrated into a greater whole and lead to a finish that was incredibly long. I was struck with both how 'young' this wine seemed and how all the multiple notes going on became so well knit and balanced. Pure pleasure.
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4/30/2004 - DChan wrote: 96 Points
We chose to buy this in magnum because of provenance - the magnums were bottled and released only a few years back. Hence drinking it from this format was undoubtedly different than drinking an original release of the wine, but it was an incredibly compelling experience. For one, the wine seemed both new and old at the same time - the age was evident in the length, complexity, and flavor characteristics, but at the same time the wine retained an extraordinary vitality unlike almost any other wine I've ever tasted. Over three hours of sniffing and tasting, it continually retained a freshness as if we had just opened the bottle, even as it revealed different facets of its personality. It was light and silky in texture, and unabashedly Old World in style. Among the multitude of flavors we accounted for were coffee, cola, cigar-smoke, candied plums, black currant, green pepper, cedar, and caramel. This was easily one of the most special wines I've ever had - I'm sure the memory will linger for a long time.
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8/2/2002 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
Healthy color doesn’t belie its age. American oak on the nose. Bit of oxidation. Silky low acid texture. Cigar box. Cedar. Another taster thought this was over the hill. Apparently this wasn’t released until 1995!
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2/5/1999 - mdefreitas wrote: 95 Points
Pre Auction Wine Tasting w/ lots of Sassicaia (NYC): Dark center, with a garnet rim. Great nose of spicy fruit, caramel, chestnuts, cinnamin, etc. Very complex. Great mouthfeel, and an endles sweet cedary finish. A great wine.
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10/9/1997 - cos65 Likes this wine:
Served at Zalacain by Custodio Lopez Zamarra, this was at the time the most perfect wine I had ever tasted, seemingly going on and on. You should try it at least once in your life.
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