Unico, Vega Sicilia 2015

The 2015 Único comes from a year with a fast ripening, and they had to harvest early to keep the crunchiness of the fruit. This was the first harvest produced 100% by winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga. The aging was five years in oak, one and a half years in barrels and three and a half years in oak vats. It's a big year, produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's ripe, with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.88 and 4.8 grams of acidity. The grapes are cooled down for one day, the bunches are selected and then fermented with a pied de cuve in vats. It's a ripe and concentrated vintage, classical modern Vega Sicilia nose, expressive, aromatic and open, with notes of dark cherries, spice, cigar box and a medium to full-bodied palate with abundant fine-grained tannins, with good balance and the rustic elegance of the best Ribera del Duero. In 2015, they produced 84,184 bottles, 3,645 magnums and some larger formats, less than 2014, which was the largest production of Único ever. It was bottled in May 2021.