Valbuena, despite its long ageing in cellar, is Vega Sicilia's 'youngest' wine. Although having the same high quality features as its exceptional cellar companions, the emblematic Único and Único Reserva Especial, Valbuena exhibits a character of its own, with an impressive aromatic richness and a magnificent harmony between modernity and tradition. A wine which has great maturity, with well-handled oak and a complex connection between vinosity and fruitiness.
Valbuena is made from the Tinto Fino variety, together with a small proportion of Merlot; it ferments with native yeasts and it's matured for five years —hence its name— in containers of different capacities (from 225-litre barrels to 20,000-litre vats), types and ages. A total of three years in oak and two in bottle; a very special process for a very special wine.
The Tempranillo (or Tinto Fino) grapes come from gently-sloping hillsides, with a high expression soil that's based on limestone in Valbuena de Duero. In the vineyard, green pruning is carried out methodically in order to obtain grapes which are concentrated and full of character. Once inside the winery, the aim is to maintain a constant style in its production process so that the wine expresses the singularity of each vintage and all the character of this magnificent and austere terroir.
The result is always sublime. A delightful red wine, a burgundy-red colour with glints of very intense ruby, A complex nose with a perfect balance between the aromas derived from the superb use of oak and the perfect ripeness of exceptional grapes. Wild strawberries, smoke, pencil lead, spices, (peppers and vanilla), and a balsamic note, all becoming more noticeable after a while in the glass and a mystic element which seems inherent in Vega Sicilia wines. On the palate, its mouthfeel is captivating; it's silky and expressive, powerful and balanced, individual and refined. It makes its exit without really going, leaving behind an almost ever-lasting flourish of elegance.
NOTE: Decanting is recommended for between two and three hours before serving.
Drinking and storing
Serve between 16ºC and 18ºC
Food pairing
Roast lamb / Oven-cooked game meat / Roast suckling pig
Ratings and awards
2020
95 PK
2019
95 PK
2018
96 PK
96 SK
2017
96 PK
96 SK
2016
96 PK
2015
96 PK
PK: ParkerSK: Suckling
Wine critics reviewsReviews by Parker, Parker, and Parker
The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021.
The obsession in 2019 was to avoid excess ripeness and to keep the freshness, so they did a softer vinification, used larger vats for the élevage and used less American wood. The 2019 Valbuena was produced with a blend of Tinto Fino with 3% Merlot. It has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.88 and 4.6 grams of acidity. I love the nose; it is perfumed and subtle. And the wine is beautifully textured; the tannins are very fine, silky even, quite different from the tannins from the other 2019s from the group that I tasted next to this, Macán and Pintia. A triumph over the conditions of the year, it's a more elegant Valbuena than I anticipated. 190,490 bottles, 5,581 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in June 2022.
The 2020 Valbuena is from a year marked by COVID-19 and lots of rain before the harvest, which resulted in a more ethereal wine, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.9 and 4.45 grams of acidity. It was produced with 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Merlot, cooled down for 24 hours and then fermented with indigenous yeasts from a pied de cuve in stainless steel. It matured in barrel and oak vats during the first year, and in the second one, it aged exclusively in oak vats of different sizes, 8,500 and 21,000 liters. In 2020, the wine is finer-boned, it's more fluid, it's only medium-bodied, perhaps because of the dilution from the rain, and the tannins are fine-grained and polished, but there's less juiciness in the wine. It calls for food. With time in the glass, the wine opens up and becomes more aromatic, and it even seems to gain juiciness and change texture. This is a production of 186,286 bottles, 5,673 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in May 2023.
Vino profundo y estructurado, la verdad, a mi me encantó y no lo esperaba a este nivel
Cremoso y mentolado, con toques de juanolas, regalices, eucalipto y laurel. Recuerda algo a la planta de las Aliagas.
En boca se muestra elegante, con una buena acidez, recuerdos a cacaos, regaliz, pimienta y anís, los taninos están perfectamente pulidos, un vino redondo y con estructura.
Muy distinto de sus hermanos 2004 y 2005. Magnífico
by: Saut1965 (24/03/2021) - Vintage 2016
2
J adore
Un des plus beau flacon jamais dégusté
Juste magique
by: Paolo Paradisi (25/12/2020) - Vintage 2015
1
Valbuena
Un Ribera del Duero per la Bodega piú famosa di Spagna , Vega Sicilia. É il vino più giovane della cantina ed é composta in prevalenza da Tempranillo. Nonostante questo si tratta di un vino complesso e molto specifico nella tipologia. Un'esperienza da provare e ... riprovare.
by: Ana (10/01/2017) - Vintage 2010
0
prácticamente perfecto
Vinazo para ocasiones especiales, en este caso para la cena de nochebuena. Para mi es un cinco estrellas. Es un vino muy elegante, suave pero con cuerpo, con una acidez perfecta en su punto, sedoso, delicado peroa la vez complejo. En boca es redondo y va cambiando por momentos, me quedo sin adjetivos ... es una auténtica pasada. Vino hecho para gustar a todo el mundo, incluso a los menos aficionados al vino . Para mi vale lo que cuesta
by: Thomas (30/01/2017) - Vintage 2007
0
Un très grand vin
D'un prix bien plus abordable que le grand Vega Sicilia Unico, ce vin a un nez très expressif sur de notes de fruits rouges confiturés et d'épices. l'élégance de son boisé laisse présager une belle réussite en bouche.
En bouche on retrouve l'élégance du fruit avec des tanins soyeux et une finale longue qui s'exprime sur des notes d'épices. Un très grand vin!
The winery
Bodegas Vega Sicilia
Founded in 1864 by Eloy Lecanda and run today by the Álvarez family, Vega Sicilia is the most emblematic winery in Spain. It is in fact one of the oldest in Spain and undoubtedly one of the best in the world.
Located in Valbuena de Duero, its name comes from ‘vega’, the Spanish word to describe the low-lying fertile land beside the Duero River, and a phonetic deformation of Cecilia, as the estate was originally known as Coto de Santa Cecilia.
Ever...
