1986 Vega Sicilia Unico

75% Tinto Fino, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. Hot and dry summer with harvest beginning 8 October in ‘fantastic’ conditions. Malo in large wooden tanks then, after 12 months, transferred to new and second-use casks for another 12 months, then used casks for 5 years. 62,748 bottles, 2,000 magnums, 102 double magnums. From magnum. Mid to pale ruby. Really lively and exciting on the nose. It doesn’t taste bordelais but has real richness and the savoury tobacco leaf of Tempranillo. Really rather a thrilling wine! Perfect balance and still great life to it. Maybe the fruit is just starting to give way to acidity but it’s a wonderful whole now. (JR)

Deep red-ruby. Sappy, minerally, three-dimensional aromas of redcurrant, iron, and iris, plus an intriguing vegetal nuance. Thick flavors of smoke, minerals and iron filings. Initially showed slightly green acidity but the fruit exploded with aeration and the wine appeared to grow riper and riper. Really stuffed with chocolatey-ripe fruit of steel. Very long. This was even better after 24 hours in the open bottle. A great Unico, perhaps just behind 1970 and 1968 in sheer material, but at least as fine.