Vega Sicilia Unico 2014/2026

Vega Sicilia Único 2016 is one of Spain's most prestigious wines, released in January 2026 after the traditional 10 years of ageing at the winery. This vintage is described as "monumental", with greater elegance and freshness than the denser 2014 and 2015 vintages.

The Wine Advocate
RP 99

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2016 Único was perfumed and elegant, showing an excellent vintage in the region. Winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga started in 2015, a powerful year, and remembers 2016 as a very balanced year, with higher yields and finer, more delicate wines. The winter was mild, spring cooler than average and summer hot. September was dry, giving healthy grapes and balanced ripening. Harvest began on 22 September and ended on 11 October.

The bottled wine is 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.82 and 4.8 grams of acidity. It has the classic, heady “Vega” perfume, complex and full of nuance, with plenty of personality and a very energetic, vibrant and fresh palate, not lacking power but with great elegance. The wine is released 10 years after the harvest, combining ageing in new and used American and French oak barrels and 20,000-litre oak vats, with plenty of time in bottle too. A monumental vintage of Único. 92,292 bottles, 3,695 magnums and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled in May 2022.

At Vega Sicilia they've increased capacity in larger oak vessels, using them for the first year of ageing, and experimented with non-Saccharomyces yeasts. In 2024 and 2025 they also introduced a new bottling line and new materials such as glass. They've classified their 180 hectares of vineyards into 55 different plots and 19 soil types. Production varies between 240,000 and 325,000 bottles, depending on the vintage. The three wines released in 2026 had a very “Vega” profile, with that distinctive aromatic palette that sets them apart from other Ribera del Duero wines.

Published: 15 January 2026

The Wine Advocate
RP 98

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2014 Único was made from grapes from 40 hectares of vineyards selected from the winery's 210 hectares. The grapes were picked between 20 September and 3 October, and the blend was 94% Tinto Fino and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, with malolactic in stainless steel. The first phase of ageing was in 225-litre barrels and the second in 20,000-litre oak vats, with total ageing of 10 years between wood and bottle.

It's a year that combines power and elegance; it's concentrated, but subtle. I had the unique chance to taste it from a magnum a year ago and was truly impressed. This tasting confirmed those impressions. 2014 was a good vintage in the region, with good rainfall and a large crop; not as powerful as 2012 or 2015, but a year of great finesse.

The wine is very balanced, with lower alcohol and well-integrated oak, crisp, fresh and still young. It has a quite classic profile: elegant and finely structured, but also powerful, closer to the Únicos of old. It must be one of the best vintages in recent times.

It has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and five grams of acidity (as tartaric) per litre. It was one of the largest Único productions: 104,606 bottles, 3,612 magnums, 356 double magnums, 50 imperials and five Salmanazars. It was bottled in June 2020. It seems years ending in four (1994, 2004, 2014, but not 1984, which wasn't made) are very good here. We'll have to wait and see what happens with 2024.

As I do every year, I tasted the whole Vega Sicilia group portfolio and published the notes for all the wines released in 2024 at the start of the year. Later I tasted the rest of the Douro region's wines and thought I should include Vega Sicilia again in this article, for context and completeness.

Published: 13 June 2024