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Unico 1994

Bodegas Vega Sicilia, Ribera el Duero, Spain

Bodegas Vega Sicilia
Ribera el Duero Spain
  • 96
    Points
  • The 964 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 11 Pros of
    11 recommend
    this wine
824 96
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    63

  • Producer ranking ?

    17

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    now to 2040

  • Food Pairing

    Lamb in mild spices cooked at low temperature

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Parker: This bodega has produced many profound wines, but the 1994 Unico Reserva may be the greatest vintage released since their legendary 1970 and 1968. A truly prodigious effort, it boasts an opaque ruby/purple color as well as a gorgeously sweet, expansive bouquet of sweet cherries interwoven with black currant, truffle, licorice, and scorched earth aromas. Full-bodied, potent, powerful, and well-delineated with crisp acidity, sweet but no...

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The Story

Of the 1,000 hectares making up the Vega Sicilia estate, 210 are used for wine growing, and there are 19 soil-types divided for management purposes into 52 plots with very specific characteristics. The influence of the flow of the river Duero and the passage of time have been vital in forming these soils.

70 of these hectares are employed to produce Unico. A unique, magical estate which, along with extraordinary management of the vineyard, ...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

My biggest misfire of the weekend was when I convinced myself the next wine was a 1982 Bordeaux. It was a 1944 Vega Sicilia Unico lol. The wine was elegant and creamy, sensual with its nut, cassis, plum, cedar, smoke, pencil...‘all the classics,’ I wrote . The stewy rhubarb, along with the ‘green oats,’ should have sent me elsewhere. This super fresh bottle was very dry, and very flamboyant (94).
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  • 94p

Another very good vintage. Potent but with good acidity – maybe even too potent initially but age tames them. 
Looks deep but mature. Mellow, complex, mature nose. Just a hint of mint. Broader than the 1996. Finishes quite dry after a plump palate. Maybe the acidity and tannin are just a little more marked than in the 1996 but these two wines taste really quite similar. A bit chewier than the 1996 on the finish perhaps.

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  • 93p

Ruby, garnet rim. Scented. Red berries, blueberries, spices, floral notes, elegant, nuanced, roses, cherries, bright nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fresh, red berries, bright, anise, leather touch, some figs, elegant, long. Lovely. 95

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  • 95p

Dark brick red colour with almost black core. Aroma reminiscent of blackcurrants, mild spices, balmy notes. On the palate medium bodied with well structured medium length, fine acidity and hints of tannins.

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  • 93p
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Information

Origin

Valbuena, Ribera el Duero

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

None

Inside Information

The 1994 Unico is a blend of 80% Tinto Fino, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot (presumably 2% is unknown varieties) that was picked from September 28. It is very intense with notes of raspberry, wild strawberry and mulberry with sensational minerality and vigor. There is a Margaux-like florality to the 1994 that blossom with aeration. The palate is rounded and supple on the entry with great weight and backbone. There is real substance here, similar to the 1996. It expands in the mouth with ravishing notes of blackberry, strawberry, citrus lemon, orange peel and a touch of cedar. There is enormous weight on the finish, a behemoth of a Unico. This is very potent, but it still requires several years in bottle. 96,280 bottles produced. Drink 2019-2040.
Score: 96 Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, August 2012
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