Vega Sicilia - Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 2016
Price: $240.00
| Producer | Vega Sicilia |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Ribera del Duero |
| Varietal | Tempranillo |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Sku | 07494 |
Vega Sicilia Description
Valbuena is the purest expression of red wine at Vega Sicilia and is aged for five years between barrel and bottle, which lends its name to the end product: Valbuena 5º.
The first year of ageing is done in oak barrels and it's particularly important, using 75% French oak and 25% American oak. In this first stage, our goal is to build the wine, working on its structure, sense of sweetness and density. The second year of ageing takes place in large wooden vats and, in this stage, it gains elegance, complexity, tension and subtlety.
Valbuena 5º 2016 is the perfect balance between elegance, complexity and concentration. Pure harmony.
Wine Advocate: 96 Points
The 2016 Valbuena was produced with a blend of 94% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 6% Merlot from 140 hectares dedicated to this wine. It fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the first year it matured in barrels (75% French, 25% American) and the second year in large oak vats. This is again a floral and elegant vintage of Valbuena, very much in line with what has happened in the best vintages since 2010. 2016 is going to be a wine that the public is going to like; it has an extroverted personality and is perfumed and generous, juicy and tasty and nicely textured, with fine-grained tannins and very focused and clean flavors. 2016 was a year of very good freshness in Ribera del Duero, a year they like even better than 2018. 182,882 bottles, 6,030 magnums and a few larger formats were produced. It was bottled in June 2019.
James Suckling: 95 Points
Gorgeous aromas of blackberries, black chocolate and shitake mushrooms follow through to a full body with round, plush tannins that are corduroy in texture. The flavors are intense, but not overdone.
Vinous Media: 95 Points
Dark violet. Powerful red and dark fruit preserve, pipe tobacco and potpourri aromas are complemented by exotic spice, mocha and incense flourishes. Sappy and energetic in character, offering palate-staining blackberry, cherry liqueur, floral pastille and spicecake flavors underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Gently chewy tannins build steadily on an impressively long, focused and penetrating finish that leaves smoky mineral, floral and juicy dark berry notes behind.
Wine Spectator: 94 Points
This red shows both power and finesse, with generous flavors of ripe red plum and currant accented with anise, cedar, olive and wild herb. Spice and loamy earth notes fine-tune the finish.
