Vega Sicilia - Ribera del Duero 'Valbuena 5º' 2018 (Magnum)

Valbuena is the purest expression of a red in Vega Sicilia, with five years of ageing between oak and bottle, which gives the wine its name: Valbuena 5º. The first year in oak barrel is of great importance to find the additional body and completing its ageing in wooden vats, where it shows extraordinary change in texture, gaining in precision, elegance, tension and subtlety.

Vega Sicilia's 2017 Valbuena 5º is produced with 94% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 6% Merlot grapes, fermented with indigenous yeasts after cooling the grapes. It then undergoes nearly three years of aging in a combination of new and used French and American oak barrels and larger oak vats. The vintage was marked by a warm, dry end to the season and low overall rainfall, influencing the wine's character. 

"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant." - 96 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"Deep and complex, with fresh black and blue fruit and an attractive floral and peppery note to this vintage, followed by hints of cedar, sweet spice and vanilla. Very dusty and juicy on the palate, with mealy, powdery tannins that interweave with the fruit. A Valbuena 5 that you can appreciate earlier." - 96 points, James Suckling

Producer: Vega Sicilia

Country: Spain

Region: Castilla y León

Varietal: Tempranillo, Merlot

Appellation: Ribera del Duero

Vintage: 2018

Size: 1.5L