Showing some grilled-meat, dried-mint and savory olive notes with balsamic, sour cherries and nutmeg. Polished and velvety on the palate, with a full body and firm, caressing tannins. Rich and delicious combination of ripe fruit, chocolate and savory olive notes throughout, with a fleshy finish. 92% tempranillo and 8% cabernet sauvignon. Tasted from magnum. Drink or hold.

(94+ points) 2003 was the year of the "canicule" in Europe, an extremely warm summer that made Germans acidify their Rieslings and saw Bordeaux with 40 degrees Celsius during Vinexpo. In that context, the 2003 Único showed surprisingly well. It's tannic, serious and austere, a little in the style of 2005. It's mainly Tempranillo with 8% of Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% alcohol with a warm nose and a softer palate, gentler compared with 2005. 2,616 magnums produced. Artwork Manolo Valdés. - Luis Gutiérrez

This red is generous and expressive, delivering dried cherry, tobacco, mineral and spice flavors in a rich, round texture, with a good balance of well-integrated tannins and racy acidity. More harmonious than assertive, but shows plenty of depth. Drink now through 2023. –TM

Although this vintage was extremely warm in Ribera (as it was most everywhere else in the world), this wine manages to transcend the imprint of that heat and present itself with grace. The fruit is jammy, but the wine has energy and power, thanks to a surprising acidity for the vintage. That freshness lends the wine vitality, and a long life ahead. Though 2003 was a complicated year to achieve the elegance that often defines Unico, this wine manages to show a good portion of that finesse.

Hailing from the hottest vintage in years, this is round, rubbery and showing sweet, rooty aromas of root beer, cola, mocha and stewed plum. Dense but soft, it has rubbery, savory flavors of barbecue sauce, herbal plum, tomato and carob. An earthy, loamy, chunky finish offers tobacco and baking spice accents. Drink through 2020. MICHAEL SCHACHNER