"The NV Único Reserva Especial 2023 Release is a blend produced with vintages 2009, 2011 and 2012, in search of a house style. It's a blend of Tinto Fino with some Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and 5.2 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid per liter of wine); so, it's a slightly lighter version of Reserva Especial. When in theory they used three warm, ripe and powerful vintages, the blend is not excessively powerful, but the longer élevage has polished that power and delivered a classical and proportioned wine, aromatic, spicy, with the Vega nose and a velvety palate with very fine tannins and great elegance."
"In an ideal world, anyone who approaches a border crossing into Spain would receive a drop of Unico Reserva Especial on their tongue, resetting their entire system to work in Spanish. This is the most Spanish of wines, needing only a slice of jamón ibérico or a crisp bite of lechazo to deliver complete Castilian bliss. The latest release, assembled by Gonzalo Iturriaga and his team from their reserves of Unico in the 2009, 2011 and 2012 vintages, is a plump, savory beauty. It resonates in a subtle chord of flavor, working through major and minor keys as it lasts, spicy and dynamic, defining elegance. The flavors shapeshift from bitter chocolate to black currant, a whiff of freshness in scents of tomato leaf and purple sage. Compellingly delicious, this is the vinous aristocracy of Spain."
97 points. - Wine & Spirits