The release of Vega-Sicilia Unico 2016 has been a chastening experience for Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan, group technical director of Tempos Vega Sicilia. It is exactly 10 years ago that he was offered what is one of the most prestigious jobs in the wine world, and yet this new wine is only the first Unico that he has overseen from start to finish.
“It is going to be one of the greatest vintages." Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan on the new Vega-Sicilia Unico 2016. London, January 19, 2026.
As he launched the group’s new vintage collection to a select group of buyers in a Mayfair hotel two days ago, it was only natural that Gonzalo constantly referenced the passing of time and how at Vega-Sicilia it’s key to understanding the estate’s modus operandi.
“This wine is my mentor, my teacher, it was the first vintage when I decided when to harvest, what kind of ageing – I was not afraid, but the long ageing process gave me respect, this wine helped me understand why it has to be aged for so long.”
Of its decade-long ageing process, Vega-Sicilia Unico spends six years in wood of various formats, then four years in bottle. It is after the first year, however, that Gonzalo makes the decision whether the Tempranillo is bound for Valbuena 5° or Unico.
“Wines that are more elegant and fine go for Valbuena, ones with more power and structure go to Unico,” he explained, his lanyard-tethered reading glasses and modest attire more befitting your favourite chemistry teacher at school than a group director of one of the world’s most powerful wine estates.
Explaining the group’s ‘pact with time’ he referenced a time in 1994 when they stopped production of Valbuena on account of a TCA issue. To get around this once and for all they decided to plant their own cork forest – a very far-sighted solution to the problem!
“It’s the way we think, long term, the notion of time here is on another dimension. When Pablo Álvarez (Mezquíriz) offered me the job in 2015 one of the things he told me is that big pieces of art are made with a lot of time.”
Tasting the new Vega-Sicilia wines
Vega Sicilia was established in 1864 in the western end of Ribera del Duero and was purchased by Pablo Álvarez’s family in 1982. The group now owns six wineries, the most recent being Deiva in Rías Baixas whose two Albariño won’t be released until 2027.
Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 2021
96% Tinto Fino 4% Merlot; 14% abv; £111 RRP
The cool, even-ripening growing season of 2021 has made it one of the strongest vintages in Ribera del Duero which Gonzalo says he is ‘super happy’ with having “worked the detail, the finesse” of this 'second' wine. So he should be, this is a Valbuena of stunning balance with a powerful, structured core of micro-fine, refined tannins framed by luscious, detailed fruit – cool and pure, coating the palate with bramble fruit, mulberry, wild mint. The nose promises deep deliciousness (the Merlot adding a perceptible ripeness) and the mouth delivers in spades. Fabulous wine and a better Valbuena you'd be hard pressed to find.
Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Unico 2016
96% Tempranillo 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14.5% abv; £279 RRP
A cool vintage until August when blazing heat slowed vine growth, this first full vintage crafted under Gonzalo’s direction harps back to the vintages of the late 1990s, according to him, in terms of style and length. “It is going to be the greatest vintage – so great – it can age for decades – one of the super vintages which will stay in my heart.”
This is the best Unico since 2010, which I was lucky enough to taste at the bodega prior to release. It’s a spellbinding wine that delivers everything you could want – power and elegance delivered fully integrated.
Beautiful aromas of small black wild cherries and juicy summer berries, hints of earth and jamon; on the palate the wine glides in smooth, fresh and effortless, wild red and black fruit framing a structured core of micro-fine, ripe tannins and sturdy acidity; this is deceptively powerful and structured. Finishes with a touch of youth.
It sounds ridiculous to say that anything about a 10 year-aged wine is youthful but Unico 2016 is just a pup. It could be drunk with immense ease today but I would start in about five years’ time and it has the legs to last a lifetime. What is remarkable is how complete the wine is – “orchestral” I had in my tasting notes – with a symphonic complexity and length. Phenomenal winemaking.
Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Unico Reserva Especial 2026
96% Tempranillo 4% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14.5% abv; £369 RRP
During the presentation much was made by Gonzalo of adding freshness to a blend – in the two Macán Riojas he adds unripe Garnacha and Graciano berries to the Tempranillo to co-ferment – and with the new multi-vintage Reserva Especial (a blend of the 2011, 2012 and 2014 vintages) he balances the structured 2011 and rich and concentrated 2012 with the elegant 2014.
This multi-vintage blending is a Spanish tradition which has almost died out (Unico can also have small percentages of other undeclared vintages in) which makes the Reserva Especial the estate’s “most classic wine”. The wine started life as a concept in 1965, blending wines from the 1930s and 40s.
Mature and ready to drink (or keep), the wine opens with wild blackberry, tobacco leaf, spice and leather; the palate is a thing of beauty with rich, complex layers, underpinned by exquisite, resolved and integrated tannins. Notes of fire hearth and graphite on the very long finish.
“Nobody does it like we do in red wines,” Gonzalo says, “this is something unique.” Swirling his glass and drinking it he added “it’s stunning isn’t it.” Leave it at that – there are not enough superlatives to deal with this wine.
Tasting the rest of the Tempos Vega Sicilia wines
Tempos Vega Sicilia owns five other estates currently releasing wines with Deiva (the fifth) coming on stream next year.
The full line-up. Vega-Sicilia Unico 2016 tasting, London, January 19, 2026
Alión Ribera del Duero 2022
100% Tinto Fino; 14.5% abv; £60 RRP
In 2016 Álvarez asked Gonzalo how to improve Alión, a pan-Ribera blend from an estate to the western end of the Vega Sicilia estate. His answer was to build a new wine cellar with 42 different vessels of different material and size to facilitate more precise work.
2022 was one of the hottest summers in memory which made it “a year with a lot of doubt,” Gonzalo explains “the berries had no taste, but doubt is good, these years make you more creative, and you spend 90% of your time in the vines – tasting, adapting, working more and more – the vines suffered in a big heatwave so we tried whole bunch to bring more fruitiness – and changed when to pick. Plots we used to finish with we started picking first, working more and more with big recipes (what he calls foudres), and granite egg.”
To taste: plum, liquorice root, bay leaf – crunchy and tense – fine-boned tannins, feels very young, and leaves the palate very dry. I found it hard to like but then I’ve always found Alión difficult when young. It will come around, the components are there, but will take time.
Pintia Toro 2021
100% Tinto de Toro; 15% abv; £48 RRP
The challenge here is to capture the rugged inhospitality of Toro with the aim of making an elegant expression and, in this respect, this is a remarkable achievement.
Gonzalo said that in a previous job he used to buy grapes from Pintia so making an elegant wine was easy because of his experience working with the fruit for five years. “It was the wine I served at my wedding, so this wine is in my heart,” Gonzalo says.
“We pick al dente because you can lose balance easily – be very humble with soft extraction and careful with wood (80% barrel 20% big recipes and amphora eggs). 2021 was an unusual vintage for Toro there was a lot of rain at the end of harvest, which cooled down temperatures so you could go very slowly in harvest – plot by plot –normally I don’t like tasting the grapes in Toro but in ’21 they were super fruity and juicy, a year to enjoy and the best Pintia we have produced.”
To taste: This is a big wine, with heft but handled well, it has enough fresh, juicy fruit around a dry core with lovely balance. Intense, vibrant, dark notes come through to the palate – liquorice, coal, earth and it leaves a big impression, but there is focus and detail that you wouldn’t normally associate with Toro.
Macán Clásico 2022
99% Tempranillo 1% Garnacha; 14% abv; £33 RRP
The first of two wines from this joint venture between Vega Sicilia and Benjamin de Rothschild – with both better than I ever remember them to be.
“This was a big excitement for me as both families know that to make the best wine it takes time. Mácan was a good wine but it was lacking something, so the challenge was how to have two different styles and how to have identity with the wine. I am super super happy with it.”
Gonzalo explained that in warm vintages you have to have clear ideas on making the wine, starting with when to harvest.
“I like (picking at that) fresh, crunchy moment – especially in these warm vintages, you have to go for it but when you’re harvesting and you don’t see anyone else picking you ask yourself: ‘am I right?’ You have to be very gentle with not much pumping over and because you can ‘over-wood’ wine in warmer vintages – 30% was aged in big recipes (foudres).”
To taste: Young, purple, intense with creamy summer pudding notes, fresh black and blue fruits, a touch of coconut flesh. On the palate there’s fresh, light, summer berries framing a fine texture deep in the wine – a spicy character. It sits on the palate beautifully, lovely poise. Lots of juicy fruit and decent structure underneath
Macán 2021
99% Tempranillo 1% Graciano; 14.5% abv; £54 RRP
“I thought it was bullshit marketing five years ago,” Gonzalo says when he heard talk about adding unripe Graciano to a Rioja blend. But, since 2020 he has started co-fermenting Tempranillo with 1% unripe Garnacha in the Clasico and 1% Graciano in the Macán. Apart from a bayleaf note that this technique adds, there’s a definite added freshness here.
“I realised, OK, 2021 is where we want to go, the grapes have much more structure, concentration and power – so the wine needs more time – 70% in barrels (40% new oak, 30% used oak and 30% foudres).”
The estate is increasing the use of foudres as “they work the texture, nuance and length of the wine. In 2021 I enjoyed tasting the grapes – fruity, juicy – and when you enjoy tasting grapes you enjoy everything. This is the first Macán I really feel proud, proud, proud of.”
To taste: Best Macán I’ve had with a freshness and brilliance to the fruit – juicy with ultra, micro-fine tannins, and an almost stone-like, texture. Open, balanced and not too concentrated.
Tokaj-Oremus Mandolás Dry Furmint 2023
100% Furmint; 13% abv; £20 RRP
Established in 2000, the aim with these white wines Mandolás and Petracs was to make a dry, white wine in a sweet wine region and to make it distinctly Hungarian, hence the use of Hungarian oak in both fermentation and ageing. Vega Sicilia did a massal selection of over 100 different clones of Furmint on volcanic soils. This is their ‘village wine’ with a blend of plots. One challenge is working the texture without overdoing the wood (70% in oak for 6 months the rest in steel). “Easy peasy,” was how Gonzalo described 2023.
To taste: On the nose fresh nuts, citrus, grassy notes – in the mouth very attractive, lovely ripeness, citrus and bags of flavour. Very good balance more precise than 2022 with a lovely length, silky texture and gorgeous mouthfeel.
Tokaj-Oremus Petracs Dry Furmint 2022
100% Furmint; 13% abv; £78 RRP
This is a single vineyard dry Furmint from the estate’s best plot of 60-year-old vines growing on precipitous slopes – the intention being to replicate a Grand Cru level of quality. The wine is aged in a variety of vessels for 15 months and then spends two years in bottle. Gonzalo described this vintage also as ‘easy peasy’.
To taste: Darker in the glass than Mandolás, it is a tad dumber on the nose then opens up with vinous aromas, a touch of wood. The step-up in quality is immediately noticeable on the palate with racy minerality, juicy mouthwatering fruit and an attractive bitter lemon peel note. Impressive.
Tokaj-Oremus Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos 2019 £57 RRP
Slow fermentation in new Hungarian oak precedes two years in 22 and 350 litre barrels followed by more bottle ageing.
To taste: Rich, ripe, oleaginous, peach and ripe apricots, honey–intense, concentrated, sweeter on the nose than the 6 Puttonyos. Nice balance and integration of residual sugars.
Tokaj-Oremus Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2017 £69 RRP
Slow fermentation in new Hungarian oak precedes two to three years in 220 and 350 litre barrels followed by four to five years bottle ageing.
To taste: Not as deep golden yellow as the 5 Puttonyos, nor as primary. The yellow stone fruit is more dried here, greater richness and complexity, feels like much more residual sugar, the mouthfeel is almost gloopy (in a nice way!).
