Dominio del Aguila - Ribera Del Duero Reserva 2019

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Producer	Dominio del Aguila
Country	Spain
Region	Ribera Del Duero
Varietal	Tempranillo
Vintage	2019
Sku	12105201
Size	750ml

  

WA

96

• Age of Vines: 85+ years
• Farming: organic with biodynamic practices
• Aging: 35 months in French oak barrels

The Reserva is a wine made from the oldest vines near the village of Aguilera. Here the vineyards are mainly Tempranillo, but like old vines everywhere, there are many other varieties, red and white, mixed in. Rather than separate these varieties Jorge feels that a true representation of these sites is best captured by co-fermenting them. This cuvée sees the longest maceration before aging in barrel for nearly three years – half of that time waiting for the malolactic fermentation to finish! This slow elevage results in a wine with remarkable poise and complexity.

One of the newest estates in Ribera del Duero, Dominio del Águila, was founded by Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero in 2010. Located in the village of La Aguilera, Jorge farms 30 hectares of vines organically with ongoing experiments with biodynamics. Like his neighbors, he relies primarily on the Tempranillo grape for his wines. Beyond that, all other similarities end.

At Dominio del Águila there is no Cabernet Sauvignon, no Merlot and certainly no Malbec or Petit Verdot, instead Jorge relies on Bobal, Garnacha, Tempranillo Gris and Albillo to add complexity to his wines. The vineyards are all over fifty years in age, and located on sandy and rocky clay soils. Jorge has acquired these plots over the last decade while working at Bodegas Arzuaga-Navarro which he departed in 2013 to work full time at his own estate. Before 2010 he sold his grapes to several high-profile neighbors. Proving the old adage that, "it takes a lot of beer to make good wine," Jorge also operates a microbrewery on the estate brewing beer entirely from local ingredients.

Jorge comes from a family with a long tradition of growing grapes and making wines. He has studied in Bordeaux and Burgundy and has worked at both Domaine Romanée-Conti & Vega Sicilia before joining Arzuaga. His studies and travels taught him several important things: the importance of organic farming, an appreciation of old-vines, a desire for elegance and transparency and all the skills necessary to combine these ideas to make remarkable wines.

Jorge and his wife Isabel, who is an architect, have renovated an ancient cellar in the village of La Aguilera dating to the 15th century. They installed concrete tanks for fermentation and placed a barrel room in the coldest part of the subterranean cellar. Natural yeast co-fermentations are the first step in the process with pigeage done by foot. After primary fermentation the wines are placed in French oak for malo and aging. With such cold temperatures in the barrel room the evolution of the finished wines is gradual allowing for the development of greater complexity.

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 cuvée 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.