Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5.°, Ribera del Duero

The acidity and freshness are stronger than expected, dominated by red fruits, cloves, nutmeg, slightly jintan, dark oak, relatively fresh tannins, new leather, hint of lactose.

2003 vintage

Deep red moving into garnet Nose: heavy vanilla, white chocolate, leather, coffee, bramble and red fruits: red cherry, red and black currant and a wonderful florality with lots of violets and bay laurel. Palate: redcurrants, cherries and violets, with a healthy dose of coffee and tar. Tart acidity. Long sweet finish of cocoa and fresh pressed cafetière.

2014 vintage

Retains a nice ruby color. Oak (literally wood), mustiness and pine needles front the still-vibrant red fruit on the nose. Surprisingly fresh ripe red fruit up front moving to stewed strawberries with lovely acid and fine tannins. Fruit and acid draw out a nice finish. The wine is slightly hollow on pnp. I concur with the drink now sentiment.

2003 vintage

IMHO this is THe wine of the vintage for 1989 Ribera. Drank it many times, blind, including vs. '89 Unico- Valbuena is always a winner.

1989 vintage

Pretty dark red purple. Ink, tar, fragrant blue and red berries, floral, light. Ripe red and black berries, graphite, fine minerality, silky and refined, super fine powdery tannins, quite tightly structured, lovely mild crushed herb edge. Elegant, youthful, with a long life ahead of it.

2014 vintage

“Elegant gravitas with Spanish soul” At over a decade in, it’s just entering its prime stride, offering the kind of finesse that only time can deliver. Beautiful ruby with some faint rusting at the rim. On the nose, it opens with a restrained but complex bouquet: dried cherries, cigar box, iron-rich earth, and a dusting of sweet spice. 1-2 hrs of Decanting helps it come alive, revealing an elegant core of red currant, graphite, and well-integrated oak. There’s a coolness …

2014 vintage

Great nose - pure fruit, floral notes, dill. A little drying and hollow on the palate, slightly stewed fruit. Long finish. Drink up. 90-92

2003 vintage

Amazing wine especially when it comes to the QPR. Very refined as always from Vega Sicilia. Had all the oaky notes with ripe cherry being the most forward fruit note for me. Decant for 2-3 hours. Should keep well for another decade.

2014 vintage

This is delicious. Will probably get better but pretty fantastic now.

2014 vintage

Good not great, cold vintage

2014 vintage

Fantastisk fylde og duften springer ud af glasset med modne røde bær

2014 vintage

Saturday Night Live Blind BYO; 9/21/2024-9/22/2024 (Bodø City) : Grease, and sweat horse. Volatile.

2014 vintage

Mature and lovely wine. Sappy, with dark fruit compote, and very fine tannins. Energetic on its own, but was easily overpowered by food, as a grilled lamb chop was enough to drown out most discernible character. Was best with a mild goat cheese. This bottle had a much better showing than the one last night, but I'd venture that this wine is probably not destined for much more cellaring.

2003 vintage

Opened at a small tasting of Duero wines, and it did not show well against several much younger and flamboyant bottles. My bad.

2003 vintage

Cherry, jam, elegant, long month. Maybe a bit past its peak but still delicious.

1989 vintage

Saturday evening in diessenhofen, pairing with entrecôte. Decanted for one hour. Deep purple color. Lots of vanilla, red cherry, black pepper, green capsicum, mushroom and wet forest floor on the nose. Med acidity, full body, high alcohol, med flavor intensity, med tannins and med finish. Ample mouth, lots of cream and vanilla, lots of cherries, quite warm, dried Mediterranean herbs, dry tannins, mild pepper, nice capsicum. This still needs to evolve further and after 2 hours I start to taste …

2014 vintage

Only small pour and this hadn't gotten much air. Was a little rough around the edged with coarse tannins and red and black fruit profile. Didn't get to revisit later on.

2014 vintage

This is your good old boy, very classic, very Spanish, very spicy (dark, Arabian spice), sweet fruit, full bodied effort, yet with impeccable. Very early maturity. #KulturmødeMors

2014 vintage

Big wine , ripe juicy sweet fruit, decent amount of oak of course, sweet oak but still the wine has enough substance to own the oak , dark fruited , plums. Proper richness and weight here as expected for the style and pedigree. On the young side but still silky enough to be welcoming . Touch one dimensional now though on account of that. 91-92 and with a lot of life ahead .

2014 vintage

Atualizando adega, não tem esse vinho deste ano na adega

2003 vintage

Didn’t like this as much as the previous bottle. Slight bricking but ink dark. A bit of spice and smoke on the nose. Full bodied with mild tannins (and lots of sediment). Still some dark fruit with hints of tertiary notes but the flavour was less intense than expected. Kept some in a half bottle for a few days - got a more expressive nose but also slight sour note.

2003 vintage

Incredible bottle of wine. Pomegranate on the nose, long finish.

1989 vintage

Mi tercera añada de este Ribera y siempre una pasada. Tinto Fino con un 5% de Merlot y crianza en madera francesa y americana, barricas de 225 litros nuevas y usadas y tinos de 8.500 litros. Alc. 14% vol. Si bien es cierto que tiene potencial para un largo recorrido, ya es un vino increíblemente rico y preciso, muy redondo, intenso y complejo, con una amplia gama de matices afrutados, especiados, balsámicos, tostados y mucho más. Bebido durante cena de …

2014 vintage

Drank at 67 A really beautiful smooth and linear showing

2003 vintage

Meaty, lange afdronk, elegant, full body, low tanine

2014 vintage

Oh, well. I managed to guess something from Vega, it's smokey, manly, firm, vertical - and very rich, 2003 speaks. #CP

2003 vintage

This is drinking beautifully now

2003 vintage

Opened to celebrate our son breaking up with his girlfriend who my wife and I absolutely despised. What a delish drink for the occasion. Victory could not taste any sweeter. Fabulous wine, drink now or hold for another decade.

2014 vintage

Medeirisiert, allenfalls schlecht gelagert vor Kauf

2014 vintage

Qui ne connait pas Vega Sicilia ? Propriété mythique d’Espagne de plus de 1000 hectares qui produit le Unico. Cette cuvée Tinto «Valbuena» 5° veut dire que le vin a passé 5 ans avant sa commercialisation entre le fût de chêne et la bouteille. J’ai passé l’année 2003 en Catalogne et je ne me rappelle pas avoir vu de la pluie. Un été caniculaire en Europe. Plusieurs doutaient du vieillissement des vins qui manquaient à leurs sortis de la fraicheur …

2003 vintage

Abierto dos horas antes y decantado una hora. Color rubí de capa muy alta con bordes ligeramente atejado. Aroma de intensidad alta, en un primer momento se detecta mina de lápiz, como aroma esencial seguido de grosellas, bayas y pequeñas frutas del bosque que progresivamente van cambiando a algarroba y castaña. La boca es intensa, consistente, tensionada interiormente , taninos finos y elegantes, da sensaciones frutales, torrefactos y especies. Es un vino muy estructurado, limpio, redondo, bien definido y elegante. …

2003 vintage

Last bottle at a restaurant and negotiated to a more reasonable price after a wine mix up earlier. Beautiful unusual nose on pnp, rich dark fruit, vanilla, still drinking quite young and will get better but certainly very enjoyable now.

2014 vintage

A masterful amazing wine by Vega Sicilia! This was a giant amongst its peers (Alion 2014 and Pintia 2015, and the Numanthia 2010 too) last night at our dinner session in Martas Kitchen, Hartamas. Stunning nose and gorgeous ruby tones right out of the bottle, grateful for chance to try my first Valbuena 5 @[1|9482449|Mika Tyson Teau] It developed even more smoothness never losing its character over the hours I sipped it, super on its own and amazing with the …

2014 vintage

Dunkelbeerige Superstar Nase. So komplex. Klar Vega. Schon sehr gut trinkbar wird aber noch zulegen

2014 vintage

Medium-red color. Dark fruit and oak notes in the bouquet. A rich supple powerful wine. Only mild tannins. Good grip and long finish. Complex, with a ripe dark fruit flavor.

2003 vintage

Eðalklúbbur, sumarsmakk 2021 (Hlíðarás 10) : Múrsteinslitað. Mjög fínn og þroskaður ilmur. Blóð og kjöt. Kokteilsósa, bílaverkstæði, ryk, járn. Frekar mikil sýra þegar smakkað á víninu. Þéttur bragðvöndull sem erfitt er að greina í sundur. En mjög flott miðað við aldur. Stendur vel fyrir sínu. Væntanlega komið vel yfir toppinn en ekkert farið að dala neitt mikið. Miðað við þetta smakk þá er líklega ekki sniðugt að geyma Valbuenurnar sínar mikið meira en 15-18 ár ef maður vill ná því …

1989 vintage

Very drinkable but leaving alone might be best, 5 years?

2014 vintage

Took 2h of decanting to open up and stayed perfect for next 2h. Very nice sophisticated bouquet, not strong, but rather fine taste without strong tannins, but with long ending. Five more to go from my cellar, but will probably wait at least another 2 years as it probably has potential well beyond 95 points.

2014 vintage

Deep and seductive, with mix of ripe cherry and dark fruit, smooth tobacco, and savory umami, unfolding like a fine, slow-burning cigar. Polished, layered and utterly satisfying — a wine to linger over, with a long, luxurious finish.

2014 vintage

Decanted. Pretty powerful aromatic, loaded with intense sweet dark fruits, light incense and filled with high class vanilla oak. Equally powerful and dense on the palate. Almost a bit too sweet to me. Fortunately the acidity was showing up after 2hours in the decanter and give the wine a nice backbone and freshness. Still pretty dominated by the new oak at the end of the palate. Need many more years to hit the right balance.

2014 vintage

A bit young in 2020

2014 vintage

Loved it. Plush clean warm fruit, nice balance, good length. Shone after 30 min so no need for a long decant. Still lovely 2 hrs later. Will buy more, plush and elegant

2014 vintage

Really nice juice, just slightly on the other side of the bubble. Drink now, thru 2022

2003 vintage

Just a perfect balance of powerful fruit and acidity. This was a fabulous bottle and I can’t wait to enjoy the other two from the 3 pack.

2003 vintage

Huge bouquet, clove, smoke, wood, pine. Perfect from the first sip. Muscular, sculpted body, sappy, meaty, umami. Sweet cherry fruit with perfectly integrated wood, solid acidity. Outstanding depth and composure, long finish. Wonderful bottle. I am aware that old Valbuena can be pretty variable, but this one was just awesome. I do not recommend bringing this wine to a tasting with a dozen young cabs; Just drink it it at home with somebody you love and some simple food.

1989 vintage

dry cork needed help removing cranberries and spanish earth predominant length was a little short compared with the 2011 presumably from the difficult year still, a delight this evening

2003 vintage

Not tired at all , got better during the evening. Stood up against Clos Erasmus 2006. Both very good and still alive...

2003 vintage

delivered more than expected given age. still young fruit notes, solid tannins and lively acidity.

2003 vintage

A bit pruny, tired, ends dry, this is 2003, although you do find some freshness also. I don't see it going anywhere. #Vega#KongHans

2003 vintage

Plums, dark cherries, game, tobacco. A structured, complex wine drinking beautifully now. Has a lovely mouthfeel and good length, with a drying finish. Still has many years in front of it.

2003 vintage

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Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5.°, Ribera del Duero

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