En Primeur - In Bond per 3x75cl
"Luis Gutiérrez, Robertparker.com 96/100
The 2016 Valbuena was produced with a blend of 94% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 6% Merlot from 140 hectares dedicated to this wine. It fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the first year it matured in barrels (75% French, 25% American) and the second year in large oak vats. This is again a floral and elegant vintage of Valbuena, very much in line with what has happened in the best vintages since 2010. 2016 is going to be a wine that the public is going to like; it has an extroverted personality and is perfumed and generous, juicy and tasty and nicely textured, with fine-grained tannins and very focused and clean flavors. 2016 was a year of very good freshness in Ribera del Duero, a year they like even better than 2018. 182,882 bottles, 6,030 magnums and a few larger formats were produced. It was bottled in June 2019."
Valbuena is the purest expression of red wine at Vega Sicilia and is aged for five years between barrel and bottle, which lends its name to the end product: Valbuena 5º.
The first year of ageing is done in oak barrels and it is particularly important, using 75 % French oak and 25 % American oak. In this first stage, our goal is to build the wine, working on its structure, sense of sweetness and density. The second year of ageing takes place in large wooden vats and, in this stage, it gains elegance, complexity, tension and subtlety.
The first frosts took place in mid-November, although they were not significant until December. This triggered a good parch process. The weather was relatively mild from November to February, a trend that was reversed in early March. As the start of spring was cooler than average, bud break was slightly later than usual. The summer was typical of Ribera del Duero and flowering took place in the middle of June. The sweltering heat experienced in the month of August caused long dormancy stages that delayed ripening. September was a dry month, which helped ensure good health and a well-balanced end of ripening. The harvest began on 22 September with pie de cuba and then continued between 27 September and 11 October
