Bodegas Vega Sicilia Vega-Sicilia Valbuena 5° 2019 750ml

Extremely perfumed with violets and a bouquet of flowers. Then there’s blue fruits such as blueberries and raspberries. Medium-bodied with beautifully crafted tannins that give a superb mouthfeel and finesse. Refinement with depth and focus. So wonderful to drink now but it will be even better in four or five years. Try in 2027.

This shows wonderful aromas of blackberries, violets and sandalwood with vanilla undertones. Full-bodied with racy tannins and gorgeous fruit. Linear and very long. Slightly chewy. Needs time to come together, but already excellent quality. Drink after 2023.

2017 was marked by the frost of the night between April 27 and 28 that Vega Sicilia fought with their anti-frost towers. The end of the season was warm, and the overall rain was low, 235 liters. The 2017 Valbuena is marked by these circumstances, produced with 94% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 6% Merlot, with good ripeness (14.5% alcohol) and mellow acidity (4.65 grams of tartaric acid and a pH of 3.85). The grapes were cooled down and took three to four days of maceration to start fermenting with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in a combination of new and used French and American 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats for almost three years. The result, for whatever reason, was nothing short of spectacular. The wine is perfumed, floral, expressive and balsamic like few vintages before. It doesn’t feel like a 2017 at all; it is harmonious, and the tannins were fine. It’s an amazing Valbuena that clearly transcends the character of the vintage. What I see here is that since 2010, the wine has a very high consistency. And in 2017 it excels. 170,071 bottles, 5,516 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in June 2020.

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.

A savory thread of fragrant wild herb, cedar and leather winds through a creamy range of damson plum, dried fig, olive tapenade and smoke in this supple, layered red, which is rich and concentrated, but harmonious overall, integrating a frame of dense tannins and orange peel acidity. Ends with a lingering, spiced finish. Tinto Fino and Merlot. Drink now through 2030. 14,173 cases made, 877 cases imported. (Alison Napjus)

There's a quiet power to this polished red, with sculpted, chalky tannins enmeshed in a graceful range of ripe black plum and black cherry flavors, plus accents of Earl Grey tea, violet and cigar box. Long and silky, with a vibrant, well-spiced finish. Tinto Fino and Merlot. Drink now through 2035. 16,965 cases made, 1,578 cases imported.