"I had already tasted the 2013 Único from magnum in a vertical tasting of all the magnums ever produced and was quite impressed by it. 2013 saw a rainy harvest, and the wine is subtle, elegant and fresh, complex, silky and with precision. The wine matured in 225-liter barrels in an initial phase and then in 22,000-liter oak vats until it was bottled in June 2019. This year, the final blend was 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little less alcohol, 14%, and a pH of 3.78, fresh and balanced, more elegant and subtler. Único often transcends the character of the vintage and doesn't follow the norm in the region, and the 2013 is a good example of that. It was a very rainy and complicated vintage; they harvested quite quickly to avoid botrytis, and while other people waited for concentration, they did not, and their approach clearly paid back. It's aromatic and floral, less dense than the 2012, subtler, more expressive and more elegant. It's clean and fresh, tasty, with very fine tannins. It's a big surprise for the vintage and one of the finest Únicos in the last few years. 76,000 bottles, 3,650 magnums and some larger formats produced, the shortest crop since 2009.
Vega Sicilia has increased the capacity to age wine in large oak vats to 75,000 liters and are making a detailed study of their non-saccharomyces yeasts. They are the most prestigious winery in Spain and one of the creators of the Ribera del Duero appellation. They work 210 hectares of vineyards in 55 separate plots and produce between 240,000 and 325,000 bottles, depending on the conditions of the vintage. I tasted the wines to be released during 2023, and I also tasted all the Único magnums ever produced, which are published in a separate article. I was very pleasantly surprised by the 2013 Único."
97 - The Wine Advocate.