2013 Vega Sicilia Alion Ribera del Duero DO

Producer Notes

For many collectors, Vega Sicilia’s name is associated with strict allocation and long waiting lists with the Reserva Especial notoriously difficult to get hold of, and for good reason. There are only three wines produced at Vega Sicilia: Unico, Valbuena and Reserva Especial. Único, which is not made every year, is now typically a blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon – although older vintages contained the local white grape Albillo, in addition to Merlot and Malbec. Its younger sibling Valbuena is produced from younger vines and released earlier, whereas the Reserva Especial really is the special reserve: a blend of older Único vintages of which the winery has be known to buy back older vintages to help manage the high demand for the Reserva Especial. The founder of Vega Sicilia was entrepreneur Eloy Lecanda, who imported 18,000 vine cuttings from France in 1864 – Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Pinot Noir but when billionaire industrialist David Alvarez took control in 1982, the estate was not in the best of health. A massive program of replanting was carried out to bring the estate to its current 200 hectares and since 1996, all the wines are produced from estate vineyards. The harsh climate of the area produces wines with high levels of polyphenols, allowing them to withstand oxidative ageing although in more recent years the style has changed somewhat towards fresher wines that spend less time in oak and longer time in bottle.