While most of us are familiar with Vega Sicilia's Unico, I think the majority of collectors and wine enthusiasts haven't explored the wealth of exceptional bottlings that exist outside of that iconic estate. Ribera del Duero's focus on mostly monovarietal Tempranillo from gnarly, goblet-trained vines that are nearly a century in age makes this region worth a deep dive. Additionally, the top producers' seamless marriage of traditional techniques (made famous by producers in Rioja like López de Heredia) and the lessons of 21st century winemaking science make this region a hotbed of world-class wines worthy and capable of decades of aging.
The producer who I feel is the most overlooked PERIOD is Viña Sastre. While their Pésus bottling goes for $500-600 and is one of the most adored in all of Spain for savvy insider collectors, the winery remains mostly overlooked in the United States. The Viña Sastre Pago de Santa Cruz is a bottling that is released only in top years in a volume of less than 500 six-pack cases for the world market. The vineyard was planted in 1946, and its ancient vines remain dry-farmed and bush-trained as is traditional. It's a deeply colored opaque style, matured in a combination of used Amerrican and French Oak barrels for five years, resulting in an exuberant and complex explosion of ripe black fruits, wine-soaked cedar and sandalwood, zesty five-spice powder, mocha, and scorched earth. The Regina Vides is even more special. with a 6,000 or less bottle production produced from goblet trained vines with an average age of over 100 years! This cuvée is sort of like the "baby" Pésus and sees 100% new French oak. It is intense, powerful, but somehow still incredibly elegant, just like its more famous Unico counterpart. - BRANDON KERNE, MASTER SOMMELIER
The 2016 is yet to be reviewed but check out the review on the 2015:
95 Points from Luis Gutiérrez of Wine Advocate: "This time I found more finesse and balance in the 2015 Regina Vides than in their top bottling Pesus. It's still very young and was only bottled in July 2017, after some 18 months in new French oak barrels. I especially noticed the roasted and toasty, smoky aromas from the wood, but those should get better integrated with some more time in bottle. It's a heady and powerful red, but it's better balanced than the other wines from the year, which delivered very powerful and warm wines with high alcohol levels. This is a more classical profile than Pesus; there is more nuance, depth and elegance and, ultimately, what I find more important: balance. 6,000 bottles produced."
