Vega Sicilia Único Reserva Especial 2021 Release (2009, 2010, 2011)

99 points Tim Atkin, MW: "The 2021 release of this legendary non-vintage blend of Tinto Fino and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best Reserva Especials I've tasted, fully justifying the use of a semi-solera system at Vega Sicilia. Based on the 2009, 2010 and 2011 harvests, with bits and pieces from other years, it's a wonderfully complex, balsamic red with aromas of tobacco leaf and sweet spices, layers of supple red fruits, savoury umami tannins, scented oak and a long, tapering finish. Drinkable now, but there's no need to hurry. 2025-40. (2020/2021)"

98 points/'Top 100 Wines of 2021,' Wine & Spirits: "If you wonder how a single wine comes to define the character of a region—if not an entire country—spend some time with Unico Reserva Especial. Native to Valladolid, grown near the town that was once the center of Castilla y León and the seat of the kingdom of Spain, the wine’s particular interaction of strength and elegance provides a window into the Castilian soul. The vines that provide the fruit for Unico rise up a north-facing slope, the escarpment at the edge of a high plateau that was once a lake bed, its sediments combining sand and clay flecked with crystalized gypsum, soils that sustain generations of vines ranging from 40 to 60 and 80 years old. This 2021 bottling of Reserva Especial combines 59 barrels selected from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 vintages of Unico. The skeleton of the wine is built out of that lake-bottom soil with its glinting facets of gypsum; the scent of the wine is built out of the complexity of fruit from old vines—rose garden, cigar box, red spices and deep red currants. Reserva Especial sustains its fresh succulence for a week after the bottle is first opened, allowing you to enjoy its increasing depths, layering earth, fruit and sun into a wine of substantial beauty. (Jun 2021)"

98 points James Suckling: "A red with plenty of blackberry, chocolate, toasted-oak, cedar and hazelnut aromas that follow through to a full body with firm, velvety tannins that are driven and deep. Finishes with black fruit and lots of hazelnut, walnut and almond undertones. Glorious now. A blend of the following vintages: 2009, 2010 and 2011. (12/15/20)"

97 points and 'Podium Award,' Peñín Guide to Spanish Wine: "(94% tinto fino, 6% cabernet sauvignon). Colour: dark-red cherry, garnet rim. Nose: ripe fruit, fruit preserve, aged wood nuances, tobacco, sweet spices. Palate: spicy, long, powerful tannins, flavourful. (2021)"

95 points Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate): "[$824 list] As has happened in the last few years, the NV Único Reserva Especial 2021 Release is composed of wines of around 10 years of age, in this case 2009, 2010 and 2011, with 2011 being the Único vintage released at the same time as this non-vintage blend. It's a tribute to the tradition and the past times, a blend of mostly Tinto Fino, the local strain of Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, and a little Cabernet Sauvignon where they look for the balance and house style by blending different vintages of Único. There are many similarities with the 2011, which can represent about one-third of the blend. There's a little more development in the aromas, some of those ripe but herbal aromas and a powerful palate but without the elegance of the 2011 vintage bottling, which has more stuffing in the mid-palate. It finishes dry, with some tannins. It's certainly younger and fresher than the Reserva Especial from yesteryear, and they are now trying to hold onto some wine to again give it some older components like in the recent past. 16,916 bottles and 257 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2017. Drink: 2021-2032. (Dec 2020)"

95 points Wine Spectator (10/15/20).