THE PRODUCER
Vega Sicilia, Spain's premier and most prestigious wine estate, is situated in
Ribera del Duero. Founded in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves, who brought
cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec from Bordeaux, the estate
combined these with Spain's signature grape, Tinto Fino (also known as
Tempranillo), in the arid soils of Ribera.

The winery began building its formidable reputation in 1903 under Antonio
Herrero's ownership, garnering numerous awards both domestically and
internationally. The estate changed hands several times before being acquired by
the current owners, the Álvarez family, in 1982.

Vega Sicilia's success is rooted in its meticulous approach. In the vineyard,
they employ low yields, green harvesting, and careful selection during harvest.
In the winery, wines are aged in a variety of containers—including French and
American oak, both new and old, as well as small barrels and large vats—to
enhance complexity. Despite the prolonged barrel aging, the fruit remains
vibrant and not overly oaky, showcasing the superb quality of its raw materials.
This careful process ensures that Vega Sicilia's wines are consistently complex,
balanced, and of exceptional quality, making it a benchmark for fine wine in
Spain and beyond.

THE WINE
Wine produced using the Tinto Fino variety. The grapes are harvest by hand in
12-kg boxes and are taken immediately to the winery to the sorting tables.
Fermentation takes place in wooden tanks under controlled temperatures until a
good polyphenolic structure is obtained which will provide the generous colour
and firm structure that makes up part of the personality of this wine; and
finally the ageing of between 12 and 14 months, depending on the characteristics
of the vintage, is performed in full in new French oak Bordeaux barrels. These
barrels, from the leading Bordeaux firms, are a significant investment in oak
as, harvest after harvest, all the wine that is produced in Alión will be aged
in new barrels that, after the wine is decanted to be bottle, will not be used
again by the winery.

Once the wine is removed from the barrels, it will remain no less than 15 months
in the stillness of the bottle, where it will end up assembling all the primary
aromas of the fruit with the hues from its delicate ageing, resulting in an
intense, complex and fleshy wine, but where the elegance is a distinguishing
feature and hallmark of the winery.

INFORMATION
Type:RedVintage:2016
Country:Spain
Region:Castilla y LeónSub region:Ribera del DueroGrape:100% TempranilloStyle:
Rich and IntenseSweetness:DryABV:14.5%Drinking window:2020 - 2035Size:750mlFood
match:Beef and Venison


CRITICS SCORES
We choose our wines based on a range of criteria(seehow we choose our wines)of
which critic scores is justone. Rather than simply highlight the best score to
promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided
by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do
not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more
weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores
like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a92/100average critic score or
better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a
high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we
offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the
market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and
representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide
to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add
individual critic scores to our website in the future.