Vega Sicilia Único Reserva Especial 2024 Release ('10, '11, '12) NV

100 points/'Podium Award,' Peñín Guide to Spanish Wine: "(95% tempranillo, 5% cabernet sauvignon). Colour: light cherry, garnet rim. Nose: elegant, fine reductive notes, spicy, black fruit, cocoa bean, cigar. Palate: complex, long, fine tannins, fine bitter notes... these are three of the best vintages that have been produced in the Ribera del Duero area so far this century: 2010, 2011, and 2012. The revealing 2010 vintage is once again very present in this house... Although there have been other Special Reserves that have contained some of these three vintages in their blend, it has been the conjunction of these three that has allowed the wine to become a living glory and reach the highest possible score in our Guide. This is the best blended red wine in Spain, and probably one of the best in the world. A wine that becomes part of the living legends of a producing country like Spain. (2024)"

98 points Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate): "[$980 list] The NV Único Reserva Especial 2024 Release was produced with a blend of wines from 2010, 2011 and 2012, not that far from the previous release, which was from 2009, 2011 and 2012, as they are slowly trying to increase the average age of the wine. As I've seen in the last few years, they look for a house style from yesteryear, combining more developed characteristics with elegance and freshness. This blend of Tinto Fino with some Cabernet Sauvignon is also lower in alcohol, 14%, with a pH of 3.85 and 5.1 grams of acidity. The color denotes some evolution with a faint orange around the rim. The nose is complex and elegant, a more developed version of the 2014 Único that I tasted next to it, with truffle, forest floor, ripe black fruit, sweet spices, leather and meat. The palate feels quite polished, with a superb texture, sleek and elegant, with very fine tannins, subtle bitterness and a long and lingering taste. This is a superb blending exercise... It was bottled in June 2020. (1/4/24)"

97 points Tim Atkin, MW: "(14%). The 2024 release of Reserva Especial - in with a shout as the best non-vintage dry red in the world - is well up to the illustrious standards of its predecessors. Marrying Tinto Fino with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, it's a three-way cuvée of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 harvests, with appealing wood and bottle-aged complexity. Rosemary and forest floor top notes segue into a palate that's fine, scented and almost sweet, with classic balsamic clove and vanilla spices and a savoury, well-balanced finish. One for traditionalists. 2025-40. (2023)"

97 points James Suckling: "Dried rose petals, sandalwood, cloves, balsamico, leather, and dried flowers. Dark fruits. Medium to full body. It’s tight and structured with a racy and intense finish. Tight at the end. A blend of mostly 2010, 2011 and 2012 of Unico. Then ten years of aging in wood and four years in bottle. Bottled in June 2019. Drink or hold. (9/18/23)"

96 points Joaquín Hidalgo (Vinous): "The NV Unico Reserva Especial, to be released in 2024, combines vintages from 2010, 2011 and 2012, all sourced from the Vega Sicilia property in Ribera del Duero. A dark garnet-red in color. The aromas offer notes of dark fruit, undergrowth and herbs complemented by pitch and tar against a backdrop of cedar. On the palate, it's dry and velvety with a juicy, mellow character revitalized by a refreshing gust of pine at the back of the throat. This is a complex, subtly nuanced Ribera del Duero wine. Drink: 2023-2040. (Nov 2023)"