2020 Valbuena No 5
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Valbuena 5° ages five years in oak and bottle, which gives it its name. Harvest was challenging due to Covid and rain, requiring due diligence in the field and a faster, earlier harvest than anticipated, the grapes coming from the Vega Sicilia estate’s vines with about 35 years of age. It’s an ethereal, medium-bodied wine of lovely delicacy and elegance, 97% Tempranillo blended with 3% Merlot, then aged 12 months in French and American oak, six months in stainless steel and then 18 months in bottle. Blackcurrant, cedar, and balsamic highlight a citrusy freshness. It will hit its prime in five years and age another 20-25.
Critic scores
Average Score
Tim Atkin MW
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Valbuena is from a year marked by COVID-19 and lots of rain before the harvest, which resulted in a more ethereal wine, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.9 and 4.45 grams of acidity. It was produced with 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Merlot, cooled down for 24 hours and then fermented with indigenous yeasts from a pied de cuve in stainless steel. It matured in barrel and oak vats during the first year, and in the second one, it aged exclusively in oak vats of different sizes, 8,500 and 21,000 liters. In 2020, the wine is finer-boned, more fluid and only medium-bodied, perhaps because of the dilution from the rain; the tannins are fine-grained and polished, but there's less juiciness in the wine. It calls for food. With time in the glass, the wine opens up and becomes more aromatic, and it even seems to gain juiciness and change texture. This is a production of 186,286 bottles, 5,673 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in May 2023.
The 2020 Valbuena all comes from the Vega Sicilia estate and is a blend of Tinto Fino and 3% Merlot from vines close to the river. Gonzalo Iturriaga uses 70% new wood here, 15% of it American, but then switches to older foudres. Floral and elegant, partly because of the 100mm of rain in September, it's a focused, comparatively forward red with bramble, red cherry and blackberry fruit, scented oak spices, a hint of rocket and a refined, tapering finish.
The 2020 Valbuena is from a year marked by COVID-19 and lots of rain before the harvest, which resulted in a more ethereal wine, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.9 and 4.45 grams of acidity. It was produced with 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Merlot, cooled down for 24 hours and then fermented with indigenous yeasts from a pied de cuve in stainless steel. It matured in barrel and oak vats during the first year, and in the second one, it aged exclusively in oak vats of different sizes, 8,500 and 21,000 liters. In 2020, the wine is finer-boned, it's more fluid, it's only medium-bodied, perhaps because of the dilution from the rain, and the tannins are fine-grained and polished, but there's less juiciness in the wine. It calls for food. With time in the glass, the wine opens up and becomes more aromatic, and it even seems to gain juiciness and change texture. This is a production of 186,286 bottles, 5,673 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in May 2023.
About the producer
Vega Sicilia is undoubtably Spain’s most famous winery; a true icon in fine wine with a history dating back to 1864.