2007 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5°

(tempranillo, merlot and cabernet sauvignon): Ruby-red. Aromas of dried cherry, raspberry, vanilla, mocha and Cuban tobacco, with smoke and potpourri accents. Supple and expansive, offering sweet, spice-accented red and dark berry and floral pastille flavors that stain the palate. Dusty tannins add shape and grip to the very long, smooth, penetrating finish. I find this wine quite approachable now but it has the balance to age. Not the weightiest Valbuena but very impressive for the vintage.

The 2007 Valbuena is rounded and warmer than the 2006 with lush dark berry fruits interlaced with scents of espresso and bay leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, crisp acidity with a composed, focused finish of black cherries, raspberry, cedar and mocha. The 2007 has great precision and focus. It is more feminine and assured than the 2006, but one senses that it is holding something back to charm consumers in five or six year’s time. This is very impressive. Drink 2017-2030. Importer: Christopher Cannan. SRP $190/bottle.

They chose this vintage, which was not easy, to show the potential of Vega Sicilia in a difficult year. Made with 90% Tinto Fino and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon harvested between 6 and 17 October after an atypically cool summer. After fermentation it stayed in 20,000-litre oak casks for seven months, and then was transferred to new barriques, 60% of which were made from American oak and 40% from French, for one year with a further three months in used barrels before going back into the big casks for six months before being bottled in May 2010. This vintage produced 177,500 bottles, 3,461 magnums and 153 double-magnums. This wine will be released in 2012. Black fruit, a vegetal touch, blueberry, almost prunes, a bit lactic (chocolate milkshake), minty and a bit funky with some heaviness. In the mouth it is quite solid, with ripe black fruit, some warmth and still a bit tannic. (LG)