Único Ribera del Duero 2008 Magnum 1500ml

19+ points, “Deep garnet with a wide smudgy rim. Spicy and laced with sweet chocolate. A certain untamed quality to the fine dark fruit. Peppery and highly seasoned but that doesn’t batter the fruit, which is more like blackberry than cherry or cassis. As on several of the wines from this stable, there’s a savoury dark-olive quality.” – Jancis Robinson

96 points, “It's a fresher, more mineral version of Vega, and very much Vega in character… This is a lighter version of Único, but one style I like very much; it's a wine that should drink well throughout its life. A triumph for the vintage conditions.” – Wine Advocate

Established in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves, Vega Sicilia has been the apogee of Spanish wine for more than a century. It’s the county’s First Growth; Hugh Johnson compares it to Château Latour and Michael Broadbent MW likens it to Château Lafite, meanwhile Jancis Robinson draws comparison with Pomerol and Robert Parker calls it simply “the most prestigious wine estate in Spain”. The estate’s low-yielding old vines – some of which are more than 100 years old – produce perennially high-scoring reds. Único – a Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon Ribera del Duero aged for almost a decade including around six years in new French and American oak barrels – is the flagship. In our opinion, Vega Sicilia’s Único is one of those wines that everyone must try before they die.

2008 was a challenging year in Ribera del Duero, with particularly nasty frosts. But Vega Sicilia got out there quickly with anti-frost burners and saved the vintage. The result is a fresh, elegant and polished wine that will age beautifully in this magnum. Creamy and silky smooth with an enticing blend of tobacco, cherry liqueur chocolates, pomegranate, hedgerow brambles, blueberry, damson, vanilla, dried flowers, pepper, incense, raspberry, Christmas pudding, campfires and camping in the woods. Consider pairing with slow-cooked lamb shank, roasted guinea fowl, beef Wellington, truffle ravioli, taleggio crostini or mushrooms duxelles. A great wine to drink in celebration of overcoming adversity and testing times.