Tempos Vega Sicilia En Primeur

Despite 2022 being a hotter vintage than 2021, the vineyards didn't necessarily produce uniformly riper fruit, and this offers up a pleasing purity, and a combination of softness and a spicy savoury quality. Black cherries, blackberries, pressed flowers, and nicely integrated, lightly creamy oak. The balance here is lovely; it offers lots of charm now and should hold and improve over the coming decade.

Macán comes from 'Macanés' a name given to the local people of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, one of the key vineyard sources for this excellent Rioja project. The cooler 2021 vintage, in tandem with the new winery, offers a refined aromatic, Pauillac-like nose of graphite, gravels, cedar, and concentrated dark fruit. The texture and overall harmony are joyous; this is also quietly powerful and will cellar gracefully.

Alión is a pure Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) blended from across high altitude villages in Ribera del Duero and includes fruit from part of the Vega Sicilia vineyard. The solar 2022 vintage required a keen eye on picking dates, a deft touch in the winery - gentle extraction, larger and older oak vessels, and the use of concrete tanks. This shows power of course; it is rich and expressive with a natural sweet charm and a genuine juiciness and will appeal to lovers of generously fruity, full-bodied styles.

2021 was a notably cooler year for Toro with some late-season rains that helped with water reserves and helped produce a crop of real freshness. This doesn't lack any power or density, but it shows lift and a lovely crisp quality to the lush dark, sweet fruit, a twist of citrus, and a sense of minerality beneath. 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo).

The 5° refers to a five-year ageing process, from small oak casks, to larger older vats, stainless steel tanks, and then bottle before release. This has maturity but represents the most youthful expression of Vega Sicilia, and the 2021 is a superb edition. Lightly spicy cedar notes support a glorious, perfumed nose of rich dark fruits, this is wonderfully pure in its expression and texture. 96% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 4% Merlot.

Unico is a legendary wine, the Grand Vin which almost makes Valbuena a second wine, and 2016 marked the first vintage where Technical Director, Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan, had full control of the whole vintage. Tempranillo with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, this undergoes one of the longest ageing regimes of any table wine and as such is released when it is ready - when it is offering secondary and even tertiary elements. It is all about potential and longevity.