Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial Edición 2024

The NV Único Reserva Especial 2024 Release was produced with a blend of wines from 2010, 2011 and 2012, not that far from the previous release, which was from 2009, 2011 and 2012, as they are slowly trying to increase the average age of the wine. As I've seen in the last few years, they look for a house style from yesteryear, combining more developed characteristics with elegance and freshness. This blend of Tinto Fino with some Cabernet Sauvignon is also lower in alcohol, 14%, with a pH of 3.85 and 5.1 grams of acidity. The color denotes some evolution with a faint orange around the rim. The nose is complex and elegant, a more developed version of the 2014 Único that I tasted next to it, with truffle, forest floor, ripe black fruit, sweet spices, leather and meat. The palate feels quite polished, with a superb texture, sleek and elegant, with very fine tannins, subtle bitterness and a long and lingering taste. This is a superb blending exercise. 18,288 bottles and 272 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2020.

The 2024 release of Reserva Especial - in with a shout as the best non vintage dry red in the world - is well up to the illustrious standards of its predecessors. Marrying Tinto Fino with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, it's a three way cuvée of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 harvests, with appealing wood and bottle-aged complexity. Rosemary and forest floor top notes segue into a palate that's fine, scented and almost sweet, with classic balsamic clove and vanilla spices and a savoury, well balanced finish. One for traditionalists. 2025-40.

Dried rose petals, sandalwood, cloves, balsamico, leather, and dried flowers. Dark fruits. Medium to full body. It’s tight and structured with a racy and intense finish. Tight at the end. A blend of mostly 2010, 2011 and 2012 of Unico. Then ten years of aging in wood and four years in bottle. Bottled in June 2019. Drink or hold.