Bodegas Vega Sicilia is one of the absolute top ten in the wine world and has long been an icon of wine country Spain. Founded in 1864 and still alive and kicking, it also leads the way in quality and one of the most modern wine companies in the country. This is partly due to the current owners, the Alvarez family, who bought Vega Sicilia in 1982 and have since improved the quality of both the vineyard and the bodega with unremitting investments, in better and worse times. At the same time they bought property in Toro, Pintia and in Ribera del Duero, Alion.

2014 was a perfect year in the Ribera del Duera and as usual the 2014 Valbuena was released in the fifth year after harvest. It is usually Tempranillo with 5% Merlot.

A large part of the wooden barriques that are used on the domain are manufactured in their own tonnellerie, mainly those from American oak. The wood is dried for at least 3 years. Once the humidity has fallen below 12%, the mite-tonnelier starts work.
The élevage of the wines starts in January, first in large feeds and then in new oak barrels. It takes approximately 3.5 years for the Valbuena. The Unico is given a levage of at least 7 years. During the élevage period, the wines are kept in older barrels in order to find a perfect balance. Once that is found, they go back to large wooden barrels. After bottling, the Valbuena stays on the domain for at least 1.5 years in perfect climatic conditions. The Unico will stay on the domain for at least another 3 years and the large formats often much longer.

The Valbuena is put on the market five years after it has been placed on barrels and rest in the bottle and can be drunk immediately, but further laying is certainly rewarded! A very elegant wine with velvety tannins and a long finish. The 2014 was released in April 2019 and received a very high rating from Robert Parker (96 points). The Valbuena is extremely precise and is very pure with defined aromas and flavors. The V albuena is a powerful wine, very structured and complete. Nice balance of all components interwoven with the freshness of the Tempranillo. Valbuena is in itself a very large and full-bodied wine that becomes even more complex after a few years of aging.

The drinking temperature is 18 ° C and wine recommends decanting the wine.

96/100 Parker
96/100 James Suckling