Region: Ribera de Duero, Spain

Vintage: 2016

Composition: Tempranillo, Cariñena, Bruñal, Bobal, Albillo, and Others

History: Dominio del Águila is a family winery with organic certification in La Aguilera, a small town in Ribera del Duero, run by the couple Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero, vigneron and architect respectively since 2010. The domain has 30 hectares of very old, plus an additional 5 relatively young hectares (less than 50 years old). They have also supplied grapes to some of the region’s top wineries for over 10 vintages. Jorge comes from a family of many generations of vignerones. He studied ‘Soil, viticulture and oenology’ at the Universities of Bordeaux and Burgundy. He has worked with prestigious wineries such as Domaine De La Romanée-Conti, in Spain with Grupo Vega Sicilia and as technical director of Bodegas Arzuaga-Navarro. Since 2013 he has been working full time at Dominio del Águila. The Reserve is made from older vines near the town of Aguilera. The vineyards here are mainly Tempranillo, but like old vines everywhere, there are many other red and white varieties mixed in. Rather than separate these varieties, Jorge feels that a true representation of these sites is best captured by co-fermenting them. This wine is suitable for vegans.

Tasting Notes:

“Tons of earthy gunpowder and complex diesel minerals and a magnetic pull that keeps you coming back again and again. It has pristine, spicy flavors with incredible precision and symmetry. Long with very fine tannins and a smooth, almost salty finish. This wine is it can age forever in the bottle. This wine is just magic.” – Wine Advocate