Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 Ribera del Duero 2020 (750ml)

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Producer	Vega Sicilia
Country	Spain
Region	Castilla y Leon
Subregion	Ribera del Duero
Varietal	Tempranillo
Vintage	2020
Sku	30477
Size	750ml

 

WA

95

JS

96

Valbuena 5º 2020 is a more ethereal, elegant and subtle expression. Delicate, but also rich and profound. A real pleasure.

Valbuena, is the purest expression of the Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) in Vega Sicilia. Tinto Fino is clearly the predominant wine in the assemblage of the varieties that make up this magnificent wine. The other variety used is Merlot, which is added to a greater or lesser extent depending on the vintage.

The Valbuena Tempranillo is obtained from plots located on gentle concave slopes that descend from the wasteland. Those soils are made up of material that was eroded and accumulated as colluvial on the lower slopes, developing a high profile soil, with a specific important evolution with the formation of a deep calcic horizon.

Valbuena provides us with a direct and understandable view of the greatness of this "terroir" with the direct influence of each vintage. Its production remains unchanged meaning that it is each year's weather factors that mark the differences between the different harvests.

Fermentation at a controlled temperature with native yeast in stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in stainless steel.

After fermentation, it is aged for five years, between wood and in the bottle, which is why it is called Valbuena 5º. French and American wood, new and used 225-litre barrels, 20,000 litre vats, a long and complex process for a great wine.

Valbuena 5 used to be the baby Unico, and nowadays it is more like its younger brother with a lot of resemblance and just a bit less depth and tannins. Valbuena 5 comes from younger vines and sometimes different parcels from Unico. On the palate, this is more open and linear, while Unico is more profound and vertical. Notes of iron, blackberries, cedar, minerals and cocoa powder. Medium- to full-bodied with melted tannins and a long, long finish. Drinkable from 2025, but will hold for years.

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, more fluid and only medium-bodied, perhaps because of the dilution from the rain; 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. Anticipated Maturity: 2025-2037