Valbuena 5º Año 2018
£152.36 (Inc. VAT bot. 75 cl.) / North Ireland
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021.
Features
Type of wine
Style
Occasions
Winery
Size
Country
Region
Appellation
Alcohol
14.5%
Grapes
Serving
Between 16ºC and 18ºC
Winemaking
Aged for 30 months in new French and American oak barrels.
Description
Valbuena 5º is a red wine made exclusively with the Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and Merlot grape varieties by Bodega Vega Sicilia under the D.O. Ribera del Duero appellation.
The grapes used come from old vines with an average age of up to 35 years planted in an area of 210 hectares, of which only some are used for the production of this wine.
This vineyard is located between 700 and 900 metres above sea level on clay-limestone soils, with brownish zones and a part alluvial.
Winemaking
The grapes are harvested by hand and transported in 12 kg boxes with a double selection of clusters, in the vineyard and in the winery. After maceration and fermentation, this red wine is aged for 5 years.
The first year of ageing is in French and American oak barrels and is particularly important, as the aim is to build up the wine, working on its structure and density. The second year of ageing takes place in large wooden vats and in this phase elegance, complexity, tension and subtlety are obtained.
Taste
Valbuena 5º is a red wine with fruity aromas and spicy notes. In the mouth it is a powerful red wine, spicy, with sensations of ripe fruit and sweet tannins.
A red wine of long ageing and complexity.
Valbuena 5º is undoubtedly a wine characterised by its great complexity of aromas, expressiveness, harmony and smoothness.
Its personality is due not only to the top quality of the grapes and cultivation but also to a long and complex ageing process.
In the gastronomic field, this is a wine that will perfectly accompany big and small game dishes, red meats, roasts, stews or roast lamb.
And you, have you tried this magnificent wine? Tell us what you think!
Shipping to North Ireland
Estimated transit time: 4-5 working days.
Bottles | Price | Over £347.39 |
---|---|---|
1-6 | £11.20 | £5.60 (-£5.60) |
7-12 | £15.20 | £7.60 (-£7.60) |
13-18 | £21.28 | £10.64 (-£10.64) |
19-24 | £29.09 | £14.55 (-£14.55) |
25-30 | £33.78 | £16.89 (-£16.89) |
31-36 | £37.78 | £18.89 (-£18.89) |
37-42 | £45.60 | £22.80 (-£22.80) |
43-48 | £49.94 | £24.97 (-£24.97) |
49-54 | £56.41 | £28.20 (-£28.20) |
55-60 | £60.62 | £30.31 (-£30.31) |
VAT included |