Dominio del Aguila
Our porfolio will welcome another Spanish star from Ribera del Duero! After Lopez Cristobal, Neo, Bodegas Valderiz and Pagos de Valcerracin, a new comer will be introduced in a short while : Dominio del Aguila.
After studying in Bordeaux and Dijon, Jorge Monzon started directly by accumulating experience in one of the world most prestigious and sought-after wine estate on the planet : Domaine de la Romanée-Conti! It would be like taking your first guitar lessons with Joe Bonamassa or Chet Atkins. Then, Jorge went back to Spain! But wait, Vega Sicilia received him for another 2 years. Mind blowing, it would be like touring with Mark Knopfler or Path Metheny, anyway… Not troubles here, I am not being jealous;-)) And ultimately, Jorge Monzon went to Bodega Arzuaga for 10 years. Not a bad, start!
Jorge Monzon, from Dominio del Aguila, is a discreet man and he’d rather spend time with his vines than wine fairs, but sometime one has to do some compromise. Actually, talking of vines Dominio del Aguila is composed mainly of old vines from the village of Aguilera, in Ribera del Duero.
- 30 hectares of very old vines +/- 80 years old
- 5 hectares of younger vines, less than 50 years old
With his wife, Isabel Rodero, they have introduced biodynamic practices into the vineyard. Wines are not fined or filtrered, and usually grapes are not destemmed. A condition that oblige them to harvest top quality clusters! Cement is the element of choice for the 1st fermentation, and wines undergoe their Malo-lactic fermentation in 225 L. oak barrels. Only their first wine, but a small part, El Picaro is aged in new oak. All the other wines are elaborated with used barrels.
Roughly, 60.000 bottles of El Picaro are produced every year. Although El Picaro is their young wine, it isstill aged 15 months in barrel. Here the vines are over 80 years old, and are composed mainly of Tempranillo, but not solely. In fact, other varities are, randomly present in the vineyars such as Albillo Mayor, Garnacha, Bobal (usually found near Valencia), Tempranillo Gris… Important factor, the vineyards are facing north looking at the Gromejon river valley.
The rare white wine from Dominio del Aguila is entirely made from Albillo Mayor. Very old vines grown at 880 metres above sea level, many vines are over a century old. The reductive style is obivous on the first nose and recall a specific producer from Burgundy : Coche-Dury. One of the finest white in Ribera del Duero, and Spain it is aged up to 35 months in barrels.
Quite unusual theses days, but the estate’s flagship wine is a Reserva and using mostly old barrels. Again, the average age of the vines is around 100 years old, no destemming, no fining, no filtration and fermented in cement. Then, the wine is aged 34 months in used oak. The result is an impressive full-bodied and intense red yet slightly restraint aromatically and amazingly elegant. No previous decanting is required, just be patient and enjoy the evolution in your glass. If you are sharing a bottle with more that 2 friends, then you should go for a magnum;-))
A single vineyard that is exposed to a cool breeze from the local Sierra de la Demanda : Peñas Aladas Gran Reserva. The average temperature is 3ºc lower than the rest of la Aguilera! Again the main player is Tempranillo, which happen to be co-planted with some Bruñal, Albillo Mayor, cariñena, Bobal… Here the top soil is principally sandy with some clay, the sub-soil is marl. As always, cement is prefered for the first fermentation and the wine is aged for 55 months in oak.
And the other top cuvée is Canta la Perdiz. According to Monzon and Rodero, Canta la Perdiz is their most elegant wine. Spontaneous fermentation in cement tanks, no fining, no filtration and aged 35 months in oak.
Well, once we receive the wine and that we will be able to taste them regularly, we will talk a lot more about them. To conclude, those are top wines from Ribera del Duero, but also a game changer. Their are not willing to express their art through over maturity, new oak or high extraction. What they aim to achieve is finesse and elegance with the best tools that Ribera del Duero can offer : respectful agriculture, old vines, sensible winemaking techniques (with intuition) and long and slow oak aging treatment.
