Established 1864 with a view to crafting fine distillates, Bodegas Vega Sicilia sourced eighteen thousand plantings of Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec from Bordeaux, to be used in the making of brandy and Ratafia. In 1876 Vega Sicilia won an appointment to the Spanish royal family, further awarded in 1880 with Grand Cross of Isabel for services to Spain, decades before the birth of the Tempranillo wine which was to make Vega Sicilia so famous.

Vega Sicilia own and operate 250 hectares of the most splendid winegrowing terroir on the Ribero Del Duero. The exacting standards involved in making Valbuena begins with the husbanding of vines, which are controlled down to each detail. Vega Sicilia have established limits to the production of the estate's vines, all are dry grown and hand pruned, yielding less than two kilos each. Valbuena is a cepage of varying proportions, according to vintage, Tempranillo and Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, Vega Sicilia Valbuena is treated to maturation in a selection of new and seasoned, French and American oak casks and larger format oak vats for up to three years, followed by two in the bottle before release.