Vega Sicilia

Vega Sicilia is often referred to as Spain’s First Growth. But it’s also important to remember its central role in bringing the only recently fashionable Ribera del Duero region to the world’s attention. Founded in 1864, Vega led the push to win Ribera Denominación de Origen status in the 1970s, when there were still fewer than 10 producers in the region. With Ribera becoming a DO in 1982, Vega pioneered the blending of Tinto Fino (as Tempranillo is known locally) with Bordeaux varieties, giving an international structure to what are still distinctively Spanish wines. Vega has been forward-looking in its winemaking techniques: it cultivates 210 hectares across 15 soil types and 55 plots – all vinified separately – and eschews chemical herbicides and fertilisers. All this has won cult status for its flagship Único cuvée, which often spends more than ten years in French and American oak and bottle before release and can mature for decades, making it Spain’s most collectible wine.