Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Unico 2013 750ml

This has a polished and complex nose of poached plums, dark cherries, tea leaves, graphite, milk chocolate and a touch of caramel. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm yet creamy tannins. Caressing, seductive and ripe, but with underlying freshness. 97% tempranillo and 3% cabernet sauvignon. Tasted from magnum. The normal bottle will be released 2023 and the magnum in 2025. Try after 2023.

I had already tasted the 2013 Único from magnum in a vertical tasting of all the magnums ever produced and was quite impressed by it (and the still unreleased 2014 that should be available in 2024). 2013 saw a rainy harvest, and the wine is subtle, elegant and fresh, complex, silky and with precision. The wine matured in 225-liter barrels in an initial phase and then in 22,000-liter oak vats until it was bottled in June 2019. This year, the final blend was 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little less alcohol, 14%, and a pH of 3.78 and 5.2 grams of acidity, fresh and balanced, more elegant and subtler. Único often transcends the character of the vintage and doesn't follow the norm in the region, and the 2013 is a good example of that. It was a very rainy and complicated vintage; they harvested quite quickly to avoid botrytis, and while other people waited for concentration, they did not, and their approach clearly paid back. It's aromatic and floral, less dense than the 2012, subtler, more expressive and more elegant. It's clean and fresh, tasty, with very fine tannins. It's a big surprise for the vintage and one of the finest Únicos in the last few years. 76,476 bottles, 3,658 magnums and some larger formats produced, the shortest crop since 2009.

Rated 97 - This vintage of Único may not make very old bones, but it's a delight to drink now and will continue to evolve for at least another decade. Reflecting the cooler, wetter growing season in 2013, it's a graceful, perfumed, balsamic Tinto Fino with earth and tobacco leaf aromas, sweet, almost gamey fruit and a leafy undertone from 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. - Tim Atkin

Rich and savory at first, with hints of leather, mesquite smoke and fresh earth that transition to underscore the range of black plum, dried mint, spice box and graphite flavors. Firm, chalky tannins are wrapped in a finely woven profile, showing a sense of finesse and overall balance through to the lasting finish. Tinto Fino and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2035. 6,373 cases made, 790 cases imported.