2003 Vega Sicilia, Unico, Ribera del Duero, Bottle (750ml)

JS96 "Showing some grilled-meat, dried-mint and savory olive notes with balsamic, sour cherries and nutmeg. Polished and velvety on the palate, with a full body and firm, caressing tannins. Rich and delicious combination of ripe fruit, chocolate and savory olive notes throughout, with a fleshy finish. 92% tempranillo and 8% cabernet sauvignon. Tasted from magnum."

DR96 "Almost 20 years on from the vintage and this Único is full of life, with perfumed aromas and a fresh, textured palate with well-integrated tannin. It was a famously hot year (though the Vega Sicilia notes only say that the summer was warm), but despite that it has avoided cooked fruit. Full and fleshy with a savoury finish - a surprise, given the year. Mild, frost-free spring, warm summer without rains, then a cold harvest in late September. 25 months in large-capacity wooden vats, 17 months in new barrels, 10 months in semi-new barrels, then 22 months back in large-capacity wooden vats. Aged in bottle then released in 2013. 76,050 bottles, 2,616 magnums, 150 double magnums and six Imperials. Tasted from magnum." SJE for DR Sep 2022

VM95 "Inky ruby. Highly aromatic scents of ripe cherry and dark berries, singed plum, cured tobacco and succulent herbs, with a vanilla undertone. Sweet, expansive and powerful, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors with smoke and floral accents. Rich and full but surprisingly lively, with excellent finishing thrust and sweet, harmonious tannins adding grip. Shows the ripeness of the vintage to good effect; this is a somewhat approachable and exotic Unico, especially with some air, but it has the concentration to age slowly." JR for VM Oct 2013