Vega Sicilia Unico
Spain, like most Southern European countries has had its
share of decidedly mediocre wines. No doubt, the influx of
package tourists from the UK and Germany, who quaffed cheap
red wine by the bucket-load from the 1970s onwards, did
little to promote the cause of quality wine production in
the country.
But ignore the cheap end of the market (as we’re sure you
already do), ignore the often disappointing middle market
(although, it must be said that there are a few hidden gems
there) and head towards the high ground. And high ground
doesn’t come much higher than Vega Sicilia’s Unico –
arguably one of the only Spanish wines capable of competing
with the best that Bordeaux has to offer.
The vineyard, which is situated in the Ribero Del Duero
Denominacien de Origen, has been in operation since the
mid-19th century, although it only began to attain its
legendary status in the early 20th century, helped, no doubt
in part by the owners’ distribution of gratis bottles to
various aristocrats and movers and shakers.
Today, Unico, the company’s flagship wine, is widely
regarded as one of the world’s great red wines. Composed of
a varying mixture of tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon,
merlot, malbec and, unusually, albeit in small amounts, the
white grape albillo, Unico is not a wine that rewards early
opening; dare to do so and it will knock your head off with
the sort of unyielding tannins that taste as if they could
remove paint at thirty yards.
But given time in the bottle (and we mean decades – not a
paltry few years) Unico develops into something both
wonderful and, yes, unique. In the 1990 - our recommendation
- there is plummy, upfront fruit, but this is balanced by a
wonderful complexity, featuring dark tobacco notes, leather
and a hint of meatiness, which makes this a truly three
dimensional wine (and a welcome relief from some of the
powerful but ultimately one trick pony New World wines). The
texture is silky and the finish just seems to continue ad
infinitum.
What you are buying with Unico is not the quick fix of
modern consumer society - to buy ready aged would, somehow,
feel hollow. It is a wine that teaches the value of
patience, and that some things in life improve vastly with
age. Just ensure that you have the necessary willpower to
eventually experience it at its finest.
