"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in news:1150145800.865684.298600
@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

>
>> 1996 Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 - this was the reserve wine, one step
>> below the Unico and a step above the '3'. Great timing as I'd
>> recently tasted the 1990 Unico. Sweet oak nose, tannins still firm,
>> good fruit, a bit more acidity than the 1990, and good length. All in
>> all a clone of the 1990 we'd tasted. Very good.
>
> When I saw 1996 Vega Sicilia in the subject, I thought of Unico and
> that someone needed to send a San Francisco whip mistress up to Canada
> to teach someone not to open such a baby so soon. However, after
> reading the discussion, I find it is the Valbueno, so perhaps this is
> not such a great sin :-) .
>
>
I may be wrong, but I think the current release of VS Unico is 1995 (which arrived
a couple of months ago). I do not think 1996 is in the market yet.

BTW, there is quite a long time since no "Valbuena 3er año" is released (I do not
even think there was Valbuena 3 in 1996). Currently only Valbuena, Unico and the
non-vintage. Some people say that the old "3er año" is the current Alión, but VS
claims that Alion comes from a separate vineyard.

BTW, no Unico in 2001 and this vintage is the current offering of Valbuena. You can
think of Valbuena 2001 like a "drink young" Unico. I have tasted it and it is
amazing.

Santiago