Vega Sicilia Tinto Valbuena 5º 2020

The 2020 Valbuena 5° ages five years in oak and bottle, which gives it its name. Harvest was challenging due to Covid and rain, requiring due diligence in the field and a faster, earlier harvest than anticipated, the grapes coming from the Vega Sicilia estate’s vines with about 35 years of age. It’s an ethereal, medium-bodied wine of lovely delicacy and elegance, 97% Tempranillo blended with 3% Merlot, then aged 12 months in French and American oak, six months in stainless steel and then 18 months in bottle. Blackcurrant, cedar, and balsamic highlight a citrusy freshness. It will hit its prime in five years and age another 20-25.

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.

O Valbuena 5 costumava ser o bebé Unico, mas hoje em dia é mais como o seu irmão mais novo, com muita semelhança e apenas um pouco menos de profundidade e taninos. O Valbuena 5 provém de vinhas mais jovens e, por vezes, de parcelas diferentes das do Unico. No paladar, é mais aberto e linear, enquanto o Unico é mais profundo e vertical. Notas de ferro, amoras, cedro, minerais e cacau em pó. Médio a encorpado, com taninos derretidos e um final longo, muito longo. Pode ser bebido a partir de 2025, mas aguentará bem durante anos.

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.

97% Tinto Fino, 3% Merlot. From the famous Vega Sicilia vineyard, located between 720 and 930 m above sea level on a limestone marl soil. For the first year of ageing, barrels (80% French, 20% American). For the second year, 6,000- and 9,000-litre foudres. 6 months in stainless steel for blending and 30 months of resting in the bottle. Production: 186,286 bottles, 5,673 magnums, 400 double magnums, 35 Imperials and 5 Salmanazars.

It has been a year in which the vineyard gave less concentration, so the oenological work is impressive because the wine shows intensity, the presence of ripe black fruit and tannin that is sweet in the mid palate but ends up being drier on the finish. Very ripe black fruit and a touch of violet stand out. Little oak impact for the Valbuena style. This is one of the most tactile vintages and still has many years ahead of it. Dense texture, powerful, and still very primary for the average Valbuena. (FC)