February 21, 2006 Vega Sicilia Tasting

Bodegas Vega Sicilia was back in town and the winehunter was lucky enough to try some of their new offerings.

Pintia 2003. Cherry's, very young and astringent. Good acidity, rough tannins however. Suspect a 2 hour decant would even things out. Probably needs 3-5 years to be "drinkable". ~88pts

Alion 2002. Very pure aromas of Tempranillo Tinto Fino. Very concentrated more so than the '03 Pintia. Cherry & black fruits. Good length with finer tannins. ~91-92 pts

Valbuena 2001. On the nose more refined and a step up from the Alion - on the nose that is. Seems to be high keyed and brighter than usual for a young and just opened Valbuena ( high acidity?). Short finish There was however, some hint of greenish/herbaceousness indicating possibly sub-par phenolic ripeness in grapes or stems. There was no '01 Unico as the Winemaker indicated that frost was a problem and did not live up to Unico standards. Reading between the lines... this may have also effected Valbuenas ripeness ultimately too. ( vs. Alion). ~89+ points

Vega Sicilia Unico 1995. Elegant, fine tannins, excellent finish and aftertaste. A bit of infanticide for my taste at this moment. Needs more time to develop more complex aromas (10-15yrs?). This the opposite of the '94 Unico which was a blockbuster fruit bomb. The '95 is elegant, refined and perhaps more delicate. ~93+pts possibly 95 later.

My favorite at the tasting was the Alion '02 despite the Valbuena being a more "expensive" wine. The Pintia was a little to "hairy" for me while the Unico is without doubt the best wine there (also most expensive). However, the elegant Unico needs more time to gain complexity as its not a fruit bomb like the '94 - too early for drinking at this point (imho). With food, this might be a bit different story.

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