WINE 80
JUICY & DELICATE
In the first years, Valbuena is always characterized by the careful and intelligent aging in barrels, even if it now matures for 24 months in the bottle before it is released. The fruit is dominated by cherries, blackcurrants and plums, and if you let it ripen just a few extra years, it is known to develop a blossoming delicate finesse that can easily be confused with that found in the great Burgundy wines. Quite surprising for a wine from Ribare del Duero. Valbuena 5º is the excellent little brother of the legend Vega Sicilia Unico, which with its number 5 tells that the wine is 5 years in the making in the cellar before it is released for sale. Valbuena 5º is the youngest wine from Vega Sicilia, and thus the wine that gives the best insight into the terroir from which the legend was created.
SAFTIG & DELIKAT
Valbuena er i de første år altid præget af den omhyggelige og intelligente fadlagring, også selvom den nu modner 24 måneder i flasken inden den bliver frigivet. Frugten er domineret af kirsebær, solbær og blommer, og hvis man lader den modne blot et par år ekstra, er den kendt for at udvikle en blomstrende delikat finesse, som sagtens kan forveksles med den, man finder de helt store Bourgogne vine. Ganske overraskende for en vin fra Ribare del Duero.
Valbuena 5º er den fremragende lillebror til legenden Vega Sicilia Unico, der med sit 5-tal fortæller at vinen er 5 år undervejs i kælderen inden den frigives til salg. Valbuena 5º er den yngste vin fra Vega Sicilia, og dermed den vin som giver det bedste indblik i det terroir, som legenden er skabt af.
FACTS
Country: Spain
Region: Ribera del Duero
Winery: Vega-Sicilia
Year: 2016
Type: Red
Grapes: Tempranillo
Alcohol: 14,5%
Aging: Oak barrels
Closure: Cork
Winemaking: Traditional
Tempranillo
For a long time Tempranillo was ignored by the outside world as a slightly rustic northern Spanish grape of strictly local appeal. It was in the mid 1990s when I was granted my one and only audience with the Gallos in northern California that I realised the grape was now of international interest. Almost as soon as I had sunk into the crimson velour depths of the company limo I was interrogated about my thoughts on Tempranillo. Clearly the world's biggest wine company had it in their sights.
Until the 1990s most red rioja tasted more of oak than grapes. The traditional way of making rioja – ageing for years and years in small, vanilla-scented American oak barrels – disguised Tempranillo's own flavour. But since bodegas in Rioja have seriously begun to age their wines for much shorter periods in French oak, and also to export young (Joven) unoaked wines, wine lovers the world over have started to come to grips with the essence of Tempranillo itself.
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
