Vega Sicilia Unico 2010

Dark and brooding in the glass, the 2010 Unico pours near-opaque with violet depth. Black cherry preserve, dried herbs, Moroccan spice and a thread of smoky mineral rise from the nose, complex, layered, unhurried. Dense and sappy in the mouth, with bitter cherry, tobacco, blackcurrant and mocha building steadily through the mid-palate. Tannins are young and firm but finely structured, carrying real precision beneath all that concentration. The finish is long and lifted, cherry liqueur, candied violet, a dusting of spice, and it lingers. Give it a decade minimum; the patience will be repaid many times over.