2018 Macan Clasico, Vega Sicilia, Rioja, Spain

OVERVIEW

A dark fruit, powerful and concentrated, spicy and earthy Rioja from Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia. Despite the rather bland label, this is one of the best made Rioja wines from one of the best vintages in thirty years. This wine is just entering its drinking window and will evolve and improve over the next 15 years. A case buy.

CRITIC REVIEWS

Their second wine in the Bordeaux sense is the 2018 Macán Clásico, which in the cooler and late year (they picked between October 2nd and 14th) fermented in stainless steel and matured in 50% new French oak barrels, 10% American oak barrel and 40% used ones for 12 months. The wine has moderate ripeness and alcohol (14%) in a fresher, subtler and more elegant year with good freshness (a pH of 3.75) and balance. It's young and creamy, a baby that will improve as it burns down that fat. Separating the press wine by quality and aging it separately seems to have increased the precision. It has to be one of the finest vintages for this wine; it is round and nicely textured. It could be an improved version of the 2016. 151,411 bottles, 1,053 magnums and some larger formats were filled during August 2020. 94 Points. Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate (January 2022)

Aromas of blackberries and crushed stones with some black licorice and violets, following through to a medium body with a solid core of fruit and such attractive fruit and fine tannins at the finish. Really attractive now. 94 Points. James Suckling

FOOD PAIRING INSPIRATION

This top end Rioja wine will pair well with grilled steaks, lamb chops and Moroccan tagine.

VINTAGE AND WINEMAKING

A cooler, Atlantic inspired vintage scoring 94 points with the Wine Advocate.

Hand Tempranillo picked grapes from 30 year old vines. 

PRODUCER NOTES

Spain's most prestigious producer, Vega Sicilia is a Spanish icon. Founded in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves, he arrived in the region with Bordeaux cuttings of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon and planted them together with Tinto Fino in these hallowed soils. This act laid the first stone in building the reputation of the wines of Ribera del Duero today.

This traditional estate strives for excellence at every turn with painstaking selection in the vineyard and huge investment in oak in the winery. All the wines of Vega Sicilia, from Unico to Valbuena 5° to Alion all share these exacting standards and it's this insistence on quality that has helped Vega Sicilia develop their cult like status among oenophiles today.

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SERVICE AND STORAGE TIPS

We recommend this wine be served at 18°C and stored at 12°C. We recommend decanting the wine for several hours before service.

DELIVERY INFORMATION

Delivery is free when you spend over £150. For orders under this amount then a £9.99 delivery charge will be applied.

We use a tracked DPD delivery service who provide text and email tracking updates.

Every bottle sold by CoolerSomm is subject to our quality guarantee. If a wine is corked or faulty, we will replace it.

2018 Macan Clasico, Vega Sicilia, Rioja, Spain