Macán 2018

TEMPOS VEGA SICILIA

Macán
2018

Country
Spain
Regulated designation
Denominación de origen calificada (DOCa)
Region
La Rioja
Appellation
Rioja
Varietal(s)
Tempranillo 100 %
Alcohol percentage
14%
Colour
Red
Sugar
Dry
Producer's website

About this winery

Vega Sicilia is a legendary estate recognized worldwide – and for good reason: this old property, dating from 1864, produces several high quality wines, including the renowned “Unico” which is subjected to an extremely long ageing process (up to 8 years before bottling), what delights the most demanding palates around the world. Founded in 1864 by Eloy Lecanda, the property bought its first vines in Bordeaux. The estate produced the first vintage of Vega Sicilia Valbuena and Vega Sicilia...

See the TEMPOS VEGA SICILIA detail page for more information on this brand

Press reviews

 Wine Enthusiast

- 96 points -

(Vintage 2017)

A joint project between Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild and Vega Sicilia, this deep-violet-colored wine has aromas of blackberry, white chocolate and fennel pollen. There is nice balance of fruit and spice flavors, with black cherry, raspberry, clove and mint leading the charge. Undertones of pomegranate, Valencia orange and milk chocolate glide along on plush tannins that melt into a bright finish

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James Suckling

- 95 points -

January 2018 (Vintage 2015)

A dense red that is agile and energetic with gorgeous blackberry, dark chocolate and hints of cedar. Notes of spice and toasted chocolate. Full to medium body, very long and polished textures. A classic Rioja with a touch of modernity. Drink or hold.

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Decanter

- 94 points -

(Vintage 2017)

A famously difficult year in Rioja with frost and hail, as well as some botrytis. However Macán shows plenty of promise with dark damson fruit, very fine tannin and well managed oak. Definitely an encouraging progression from the first vintage (launched in 2009) with a much clearer expression of the terroir and more elegant oak. At 16 months, it spends four months longer in oak than Macán Clásico. The ageing in French oak is now divided between foudres and barriques.

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James Suckling

- 93 points -

(Vintage 2017)

Aromas of ripe berries, spice and dried flowers with some licorice and meat. Full-bodied with round, rich tannins that are slightly chewy now. Yet, the wine shows lots of ripeness from the vintage, as well as length.

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Wine Advocate

- 93 points -

Luis Gutiérrez, October 2020 (Vintage 2015)

The current vintage of the first wine is the 2015 Macán, fermented in oak vats and matured in new French oak barrels for 12 months, followed by a further five months in oak vats and kept in bottle for almost three years before it's released. 2015 was a warm and dry year, and the wine feels riper when tasted next to the 2016 Macán Clásico, which comes from a very different year. The use of foudres helps to give the wine length and elegance—a good tool to fine-tune warmer vintages like this one. This is stylistically different from 2016, with darker fruit and an earthy touch. It's powerful, with structure and plenty of tannin, a dense wine, with concentration to get polished in bottle. 74,465 bottle, 2,563 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2017.

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Decanter

- 93 points -

Sarah Jane Evans, November 2019 (Vintage 2015)

Macán is the first wine of the pair produced at the Macán winery, and makes an interesting contrast to the wines of Ribera del Duero and Toro. It's inevitably lighter; but with the years is developing lovely complexity: an aromatic wine showing red berries and blackcurrants with vivid intensity. The mid-palate blossoms with red fruits and vivid acidity. The finish is long. This needs time to develop. Come back and rediscover it from the mid-2020s.

Drinking Window 2025 - 2032

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Vinous

- 93 points -

Josh Raynolds, February 2019 (Vintage 2015)

(aged in new and used French oak barrels) Youthful purple. Powerful, highly perfumed aromas of primary dark fruits, potpourri and incense, complicated by oak spice, vanilla and woodsmoke nuances. Sweet, seamless and palate-staining, offering densely packed blackberry, cherry-vanilla and violet pastille flavors energized by a spine of juicy acidity and a suggestion of peppery spices. Finishes sweet and quite long, delivering outstanding finishing clarity and harmonious tannins that blend effortlessly with the wine's sappy fruit.

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Wine Spectator

- 91 points -

October 2020 (Vintage 2015)

Sleek and harmonious, this red offers black cherry, licorice, forest floor and smoky notes, set in a polished texture, with well-integrated tannins and balsamic acidity. Balanced and graceful. Drink now through 2028. 6,250 cases made, 360 cases imported. — TM

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