Dominio del Aguila

The story

The Internship

Jorge Monzón was an inexperienced young student who spoke no French and had no recommendations or experience. He still persuaded a domaine to accept him as an intern. Monzón had studied viticulture in Bordeaux and Burgundy, and the internship became his first professional position. He later moved to Spain and worked at Vega Sicilia. The sequence began with a student asking for an opportunity without the usual credentials, followed by a first job that placed him inside a demanding wine estate.

From the atlas

Dominio del Águila

In La Aguilera, Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero farm old mixed plantings and make Ribera del Duero wines through natural yeast fermentation and long cellar ageing.

At A Glance

The Producer

Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero work a 66 hectare estate in La Aguilera, planted chiefly to Tempranillo alongside red and white varieties. The vineyards include Blanca del País, Bobal, Garnacha, Albillo and Tempranillo Gris. Farming follows organic and biodynamic methods.

Dominio del Águila makes wines from broad mixed plantings as well as named parcels. The range includes Pícaro, Canta la Perdiz and Peñas Aladas Clarete Gran Reserva, with the cellar preserving whole clusters, natural yeast and oak ageing as recurring parts of the production.

Place

La Aguilera lies in Burgos, in one of the highest and coldest areas of Ribera del Duero. The vineyards sit between 800 and 900 metres, placing the vines in a cool highland setting within the appellation.

The range includes a fresher Ribera del Duero style in Pícaro Tinto, where elegance is emphasized over extraction. Other bottles narrow the address to a single vineyard or retain the field planted character of old parcels.

Soil And Site

The old vineyards contain mixed plantings led by Tempranillo, with Albillo, Tempranillo Gris, Cariñena, Garnacha, Bobal and Bruñal growing alongside it. Some vines were planted before phylloxera or shortly after its arrival, and the vineyard ages span approximately 60 to more than 150 years.

A field planting brings several grape varieties into the same parcel. When those grapes are co fermented, the wine carries the proportions and ripening patterns of the vineyard as a whole.

Story

While working for other wineries, Jorge Monzón began purchasing old vineyards around La Aguilera that were in danger of being removed and replaced with more productive clones of Tempranillo. He and Isabel Rodero established Dominio del Águila in 2010, keeping those mixed old plantings in production.

The consequence appears across the range. Canta la Perdiz comes from one named vineyard, while Peñas Aladas Clarete retains the field planted character of old vines with red and white varieties growing together.

Vineyards And Cellar

Farming is certified organic. In the cellar, natural yeast begins fermentation, whole clusters remain with the grapes, and pigeage is done by foot. Stems can add perfume, spice and tannin, while foot treading mixes the skins and juice during fermentation.

After primary fermentation, the wines go into oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and ageing. Oak allows slow oxygen contact and can soften tannin while adding spice. Isabel Rodero, an architect, supervised the renovation of three underground cellars dating to the fifteenth century beneath the village. Their cold subterranean conditions slow the wines' development and allow greater complexity and nuance.

Wines

Pícaro Tinto is the red counterpart to Pícaro Clarete, presented as a fresher Ribera del Duero style. Pícaro del Águila is Tempranillo led, with Garnacha, Bobal and Tempranillo Gris among its red and white varieties. The grapes are vinified together, fermented in concrete with whole bunches and traditional foot treading, then aged for 12 months in French oak barrels.

Canta la Perdiz is a single vineyard wine from a south facing parcel of ungrafted vines. The documented blend is 80% Tempranillo, with Bruñal, Albillo, Bobal and Cariñena making up the rest.

Peñas Aladas Clarete Gran Reserva is a field planted wine made with approximately half Tempranillo alongside Albillo Mayor, Bruñal, Garnacha, Bobal and Carignan. It was released after 51 months of barrel ageing.

In The Glass

Pícaro del Águila shows ripe fruit, violet candy, mineral notes, spice and good acidity. It is medium bodied and silky, with red and black fruit, juicy tannins and a long finish.

The 2022 Pícaro Tinto profile moves toward blackberry, blueberry and dark cherry, with vanilla, sweet spice and chalky tannin. Peñas Aladas Clarete is bone dry and fresh, with rose petal, faded violet and a strong stony mineral sensation. It is dark, vinous and marked by a firm mineral line.

A Bottle To Understand It

Canta la Perdiz is the bottle to open first. It comes from one south facing vineyard of ungrafted vines dating well into the nineteenth century, with 80% Tempranillo and four accompanying varieties in the documented blend.

The wine gives black fruit and spice, followed by chalky tannins and a firm, powerful finish. Its single parcel and fixed grape composition place one vineyard on the label before the range moves into broader field planted and Clarete bottlings.

Anecdote

Jorge Monzón was an inexperienced young student who spoke no French and had no recommendations or experience. He still persuaded a domaine to accept him as an intern. Monzón had studied viticulture in Bordeaux and Burgundy, and the internship became his first professional position. He later moved to Spain and worked at Vega Sicilia. The sequence began with a student asking for an opportunity without the usual credentials, followed by a first job that placed him inside a demanding wine estate. His subsequent work in Spain preceded the founding of Dominio del Águila with Isabel Rodero in La Aguilera.

Final Word

Pícaro Tinto is presented as a fresher Ribera del Duero red, with elegance emphasized over extraction.

Sources

1. https://www.indigowine.com/producer/dominio-del-aguila/ 2. https://www.europeancellars.com/producer/dominio-del-aguila/ 3. https://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/feature-story/wine-features/old-vines-new-wines 4. https://www.bodeboca.pt/vinho/picaro-aguila-2023 5. https://www.vino-vi.com/es/vino-tinto/2780-picaro-del-aguila-2023.html 6. https://www.ipowines.com/wine/2019-dominio-del-aguila-canta-la-perdiz 7. https://www.supervin.dk/dominio-del-aguila-penas-aladas-clarete-gran-reserva-2019-oko 8. https://www.ipowines.com/wine/2022-dominio-del-aguila-picaro-tinto