Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia Macan 2018

The 2018 Macán has moderate alcohol (14%) and more freshness (pH 3.69), reflecting a cooler and rainier year that forced them to fine-tune the sorting and selection of the grapes, which fermented with selected yeasts. The élevage was in barrel (55%) and larger foudres for 16 months. 2018 was quite different from 2019, as it was cooler and rainier. The wine is serious and harmonious, which was a challenge, and winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga told me that they had to be very careful and sort and select the grapes. It’s textured and elegant, a style that follows the path of the 2016; it’s elegant but with depth, managing the élevage in foudre better, which was a learning process they started in 2016. 74,570 bottles, 2557 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in September 2020.
94 + Points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate, Jan 2023

Macán is a modern and very personal take on the signature wines of the Rioja DOCa region. It is a commitment to finesse, elegance, complexity, and intensity. It is also the standard bearer for Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia, the project launched by Tempos Vega Sicilia and Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild in 2004.
The 2009 vintage was the first to launch to market. Knowledge, effort, patience, and a desire for constant improvement have helped to develop a project that currently resides on a 100-hectare estate on a high slope at the foot of the imposing Sierra de Cantabria, containing high-quality vineyards and cutting-edge production facilities. Macán is made purely from Tempranillo grapes, which come from a meticulous selection of mature plots found on high terraces with poor, gravelly calcareous clay soils.

The Vintage
The Atlantic’s influence on the 2018 vintage marked this year’s wine; it was fresh and damp year with mild winter temperatures and abundant precipitation. It snowed six times during the first quarter of the year, enabling the soil to gain significant water reserves. Budbreak was 10 days late, and abundant rainfall and moderate temperatures continued throughout spring. Ripening was delayed by 2 weeks as a result. It was a more productive vintage than some, thanks to good water reserves, giving a wine with freshness and elegance rather than pure muscle. Harvest took place in October and produced an exceptional, distinctive result, which