VEGA SICILIA MACÁN CLÁSICO 2019

Founded in 1864, 118 years before the Ribera del Duero region was demarcated, Vega Sicilia are and always have been the pace setters in the region. They are without doubt Spain’s most famous winery. Their 250 hectares of vines are planted with Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec and impressively they are the only Bodega to have their own cooperage. These staggeringly concentrated, complex and robust wines are aged for a minimum of five years in barrel before bottling.

Winery notes (2019 Vintage)
"Macán Clásico is an exemplary wine from the Sonsierra region of La Rioja, steeped in centuries of tradition, knowledge and winemaking culture in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria. It conveys the terroir's freshness, fruitiness, liveliness, and delicateness, which provides depth and complexity.

A lot of hard work went into selecting, acquiring, and nurturing 100 hectares of vineyard for this wine since 2004, along with the commendable efforts in the winery since 2009 (when the first vintage was marketed). Furthermore, Tempos Vega Sicilia and Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild have jointly owned modern facilities in the Rioja DOC region since 2016, where innovation, technology, and wine science converge.

Macán Clásico is made from one variety: 100% Tempranillo. The grapes come from plots with alkaline sandyclay soils. Concentration and potency were expected with this vintage given the warmer vine cycle, which proved correct, but the 80 litres that fell in September meant the skins radically changed their texture, moving from drier to firmer texture grapes, while remaining noble. A vintage with very mild extractions, almost infusionlike, nature providing everything. We also reduced the effect of the American oak during ageing, leaning towards toasts to provide more freshness.

Macán Clásico 2019 offers a more concentrated, potent expression, while also conserving the zing and fresh nuance from our soils."

93+/100 Luis Gutierrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2019 Vintage)
"The second wine, in Bordeaux style, is the Macán Clásico 2019, a more concentrated and powerful wine from a warmer and drier year that was saved by the 80 liters of rain from the first half of September It fermented in stainless steel with 10% of their own yeasts, and the aging was 22% in stainless steel and the rest in new and used oak barrels, mainly French but with around 5% of 'American, and lasted 12 months. It has a moderate 14% alcohol content, smooth acidity and good freshness and balance. 2019 was a dry, hot year where they did gentle vinification to avoid hard tannins. The nose is ripe without excess, and the oak is well integrated. The palate is juicy and round, with fine tannins and a velvety texture."

17/20 JancisRobinson.com, January 2023 (2019 Vintage)
"100% Tempranillo. Until 2020 no Graciano. This joint venture began at the dinner table. In 2004–2009 they bought vineyards secretly in Labastida, Sonsierra and Baños de Ebro and lots more. Both Rioja Alta and Alavesa. In 2016 they finished their winery. Winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga: ‘I feel very spoilt because I have everything I need and we can do things in a more precise way. When I arrived in 2015 Pablo thought Macán was a good wine but it lacked something. It was big but … I felt freer in Rioja than Ribera. This is the first release I’m more or less proud of. This is the fruit-forward release. 2019 was warm and quite dry. Grapes were al dente when picked. We don’t want overripe. We don’t want jammy. We’re seeking freshness. In 2019 the berries were very rich and concentrated. So we did a very small remontage/extraction. Less wood-ageing than usual. For the first time we left some wine, 25–30%, in tank not wood for fruitiness.’ The rest was aged for 12 months in US oak from their own cooper. Then they used French oak, and transposed tank and oak – quite a complex ageing regime! Very deep crimson. Very bright fruit and toasty and intense. Really lively and exciting. Some saltiness. Very long indeed."