Dominio del Aguila Reserva 2020 750ml
The Wine Advocate | RP 97
Published: Jun 13, 2024
Drink: 2025-2036
2019 was a warm and dry low-yielding year, somewhat similar to 2015, and the 2019 Reserva could be the modern version of the 2015' a round, lush and approachable Reserva that is perfumed and fruit-driven, with spices in the background. It's a hedonist cuvee of 95% Tempranillo and 5% other grapes from some of the oldest grapes in the village. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts followed by a slow malolactic in 228-liter French oak barrels, mostly used, where the wine matured for 35 months. It reveals very good integration of the oak that is neatly folded into the wine. It shows the tannic structure of the 2019 vintage. 23,875 bottles and 430 magnums produced. It was bottled in September 2022.
At Dominio del Águila they are building an extension to their winery in the outskirts of La Aguilera, the hamlet of Aranda de Duero, where they have an impressive collection of old, head-pruned vineyards—35 hectares, all certified organic (like all their wines) vines averaging 100 years of age to produce their current 50,000 bottles with the idea to eventually reach 80,000 bottles. There is a new-single vineyard "clarete" rosé from Peñas Aladas in 2020, an ideal vintage that follows the style of the cool 2016, and they don't stop experimenting and searching for new ways.
Decanter | D 95
Published: Aug 2, 2024
Drink: 2024-2034
Dominio del Aguila, the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Jorge Monzón and Isabel Escudero, is one of the leading names of ‘new Ribera del Duero’. With Burgundy as reference – Monzón studied viticulture in Bordeaux and Burgundy, got his first job at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and refers to his winemaking approach as ‘Côtes de Nuits à l'ancienne’ – he has built a range that stands out for its rustic classicism, forged with great technical acumen. As shown in this Reserva from 2020 which, having spent 35 months in used French oak barrels in one of Ribera’s traditional underground cellars, retains crunchy red and blue fruit and vibrant herbal notes of thyme, oregano and tarragon.The fruit hails from old field blends – including pre-phylloxera 100-year-old plots – with Garnacha. Bobal, Albillo and other local co-planted varieties, all of which are harvested and fermented together, no doubt adding to this wine’s depth and layered freshness.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.00%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: Bobal Grenache / Garnacha Tempranillo / Tinto Fino
dominiodelaguila.com
Aging: 35 months in oak barrels
Varieties: mainly tempranillo, garnacha and bobal
Vinification: non destemed grapes, trodden with the feet, malolactic fermentation in?oak barrels, not clarified, not fined.
The winery is within the Consejo Regulador de la Denominacien de Origen Ribera del Duero and within the Consejo Ecologico de Castilla y Leone, the institution that regulates ORGANIC WINES.
The domain's greatest asset is the vineyard. we count with 30 hectares of very old vines, mostly in organic farming, apart from 5 additional hectares relatively young (under 50 years). We are grapes suppliers of some of the main wineries in the region since more than 10 vintages.Our passion is the vineyard! Jorge comes from a family of many generations of vignerons. His studies were based in 'Soil, viticulture and oenology' at the Universities of Bordeaux and Burgundy. He worked with prestigious wineries such as Domaine De La Romanee-Contie for more than two years. He has also worked in Spain in the'Vega Sicilia Group' for a year and as technical director of 'Bodegas Arzuaga-Navarro' for nine years. Since 2013 he works full time in Dominio del Aguila.