January 31, 2025
Vega Sicilia Unico 2014 & 2015
We are delighted to present the latest vintages from Spain’s most iconic estate, the legendary Vega Sicilia. A true pioneer in crafting world-class Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, Vega Sicilia is often regarded as Spain’s equivalent of a First Growth, renowned for producing wines of exceptional quality, depth, and longevity.
Crafted predominantly from Tempranillo, with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, it undergoes extended ageing—often a decade or more—before release. This meticulous process results in a wine of extraordinary depth, balance, and finesse, offering layers of dark fruit, spice, tobacco, and earth. With its remarkable structure and ability to age gracefully for decades, Único stands as a true icon of Spanish fine wine.
The 2015 Vega Sicilia Unico is a bold, structured vintage reflecting a warm, early-ripening year. Aged for a decade, it blends 96% Tinto Fino with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, offering deep cassis, dark chocolate, and spice. With fine-grained tannins and a layered complexity, it promises remarkable longevity and refinement.
A vintage of finesse and power, the 2014 Vega Sicilia Unico balances floral elegance with classic Ribera del Duero structure. Aged ten years, this 94% Tinto Fino, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon blend reveals black cherry, bramble, and tobacco, underpinned by freshness, chalky minerality, and a seamless, beautifully integrated oak influence.
We invite you to read the full critic reviews below. Don't miss adding these legend to be to your collection.
Vega Sicilia Unico 2015
19 Points | Jancis Robinson, Ferran Centelles
96% Tinto Fino, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. From the famous Vega Sicilia vineyard, located between 720 and 930 m above sea level on limestone marl soil. Aged for a total of 10 years, 5 years in barrels and wooden foudres, of which one and a half years in barrels, and another five years in bottle. The maturation of the 2015 vintage was fast, homogeneous and exceptional, which required a good control of the process to obtain the optimum point of maturity. Gonzalo Iturriaga's first year as technical director. A very generous year in terms of ripeness and power, with great balancing acidity. For this wine, the whitest soils rich in marl were selected from the mythical Vega Sicilia vineyard. Production: 84,184 bottles, 3,645 magnums, 360 double magnums, 57 Imperials and 5 Salmanazars. Cedar, graphite and a fine touch of earthiness. It is fluid, with melted tannins and very smooth. Certainly, a year of great delicacy and with the barrel less marked. It is totally multi-layered and you can already perceive some tertiary notes that are complemented by a touch of pine-forest freshness at the back of the palate. Great work; it is a totally overwhelming wine. (FC)
98 Points | Tim Atkin MW
Responding to the heat and power of the 2015 vintage, Gonzalo Iturriaga was grateful for the 4% Cabernet Sauvignon in this blend with Tinto Fino. Firmer and denser than the 2014 release, it partners aromas of earth, tobacco leaf and dark chocolate with a palate of Asian spices, ginger, cassis and blackberry and polished tannins. A triumph over the elements.
97 points | Wine Advocate, Luis Gutiérrez
The 2015 Único comes from a year with a fast ripening, and they had to harvest early to keep the crunchiness of the fruit. This was the first harvest produced 100% by winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga. The aging was five years in oak, one and a half years in barrels and three and a half years in oak vats. It's a big year, produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's ripe, with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.88 and 4.8 grams of acidity. The grapes are cooled down for one day, the bunches are selected and then fermented with a pied de cuve in vats. It's a ripe and concentrated vintage, classical modern Vega Sicilia nose, expressive, aromatic and open, with notes of dark cherries, spice, cigar box and a medium to full-bodied palate with abundant fine-grained tannins, with good balance and the rustic elegance of the best Ribera del Duero. In 2015, they produced 84,184 bottles, 3,645 magnums and some larger formats, less than 2014, which was the largest production of Único ever. It was bottled in May 2021.
Vega Sicilia Unico 2014
99 Points | Tim Atkin MW
Reserva (14%) The 2014 Único is the second wine in a row from a cooler, so-called Atlantic year, although the harvest was considerably less wet than 2013. Sourced from the best 40 hectares on the Vega Sicilia estate, covering a total of 30 parcels, this is a stunningly floral, complete, layered Tinto Fino with lily, wild rose and mountain herb aromas, subtle French and 25% American oak, some added backbone from 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a palate of bramble, black cherry, Asian spices and tobacco embellished and freshened by a bright, chalky finish.
98 Points | Wine Adocate, Luis Gutiérrez
The 2014 Único was produced with grapes from 40 hectares of vines selected from the 210 hectares the winery has. The grapes were picked between September 20th and October 3rd, and the blend was 94% Tinto Fino and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, with malolactic in stainless steel. The first part of the aging was in 225-liter barrels and the second one in 20,000-liter oak vats, and the élevage lasts 10 years between oak and bottle. It's a year that combines power and elegance; it's concentrated but has subtleness. I had a unique opportunity to taste it from magnum one year ago and was truly impressed. This tasting was consistent with those sensations. 2014 was a good vintage in the zone, a year with good rain and a big crop, not as powerful as 2012 or 2015 but a year with finesse. The wine feels very balanced, lower in alcohol and with integrated oak, crunchy, fresh and still young. It feels quite classical; it's fine-boned, elegant but also powerful, more like the Únicos from yesteryear. It has to be one of the finest vintages of recent times. It has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and five grams of acidity measured in tartaric acid per liter of wine. One of the largest vintages of Único, 104,606 bottles, 3,612 magnums, 356 double magnums, 50 imperials and five Salmanazars were produced. It was bottled in June 2020. It seems like years ending in four—94, 2004, 2014 (but not 84, that was not produced)—are very good here. We'll have to wait and see about the 2024...
97 Points | Vinous, Joaquín Hidalgo
The 2014 Unico is primarily composed of Tempranillo with an additional 6% dash of Cabernet Sauvignon, both sourced from the eponymous property in Ribera del Duero. Aged at length in barrels and large oak vats, the combination of aging methods brings out the wine's nuances in what was a generous year. A dark garnet-red in the glass. The aromas offer licorice and cedar notes alongside hints of orange peel, petit four, cola and pine. There's a background of ripe dark fruit. The palate is dry and plush with a chalky texture and supple tannins, contributing to the complex character. A nuanced red just at the beginning of its life.