Dominio del Águila
In Ribera del Duero new energy is afoot – one doesn’t have to take many sips of Dominio del Águila to realize that. That energy made its way to Denmark in June, where winemaker Jorge Monzón visited Copenhagen.
Jorge grew up in the small town of Águila, witnessing firsthand the shift in winemaking: Elegance and juiciness was rejected in favor of extraction and power. This sparked a fire in him – determined to bring back the authentic Ribera del Duero, he defines his vision as “Old New”. Since founding their family winery in 2010, Jorge and his wife Isabel Rodero, have steadily been building a reputation for a different representation of the area, which many perceive as a new and fresh take on the region, when it in fact is a return to the roots of the region’s winemaking heritage - this old style just happens to align very well with a contemporary vision of wine as something distinct from a specific area, as well a taste for less oak and more juicy styles.
Back to the roots
Their great passion is the vineyard! Jorges connection to the land runs deep, coming out of a family of vignerons. He pursued formal education in soil, viticulture and oenology at the prestigious universities of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Honing his craft at some of the most iconic wineries on the planet, Jorge can write more than two years at Domaine De La Romanée-Conti a year at Vega Sicilia Group and nine yearsa as technical director of Bodegas Arzuaga-Navarro on the CV before committing full time to Dominio del Águila in 2013.
The domain's greatest asset is the vineyard. Returning to Ribera in 2003, Jorge already then started to add to the small holding of family vineyards little by little. These were not the vineyards others coveted; they were the cooler locations where you would get less ripeness and less color than conventionally desired. Yet, Jorge saw potential where others did not. Upon returning to his birth town, Jorge received a touching back up from the local community – many local families, facing the pressures of urbanization and without younger generations to continue their farming traditions, entrusted their small parcels of land to him, just wishing to see it on good hands. They recognized his mission to preserve the traditional Ribera del Duero, and their support was both a testament to his vision and a reflection of the region’s changing landscape. To Jorge, the abandoning of the countryside is a great tragedy, only heightening the importance of his mission.
Today, Dominio del Águila has built a solid foundation owning over 30 hectares of ancient vines, primarily farmed organically, along with an additional 5 hectares of “younger” sub-50-years-vines. The vineyards are meticulously managed, divided into more than 400 plots spread across a 10-kilometer radius – a witness of the relentless detail orientation that has made his reputation. The vineyards run on an ore limestone, interspersed with varying amounts of clay and sand in between. Some places where the limestone is almost pure, the pH value of the soil can go as high as 8!
“The domain’s greatest asset is the vineyard. Returning to Ribera in 2003, Jorge already then started to add to the small holding of family vineyards little by little.”
Cubillo and Álbillo
Jorge describes is so himself: “Through all those years learning and gaining experience, we were also devoted to the recovering of family vineyards, till we have managed to get together as owners a very high quality vine patrimony, some real Grand Crus… where the ‘tempranillo’ is the true protagonist, living in a very friendly way with other varieties such as blanca del país, bobal, garnacha, albillo, tempranillo gris, etc.”.
At the heart of this we find Tempranillo – particularly the Cubillo selection, a local strain that fell out of favor after phylloxera due to its low yield. The Cubillo strain has a stellar quality potential, producing grapes with small, intensely flavored berries. Another, perhaps even more unique specialty, is the work Dominio del Águila does with Albillo. Put together their holdings of Álbillo counts for 30% of the total acreage of Álbillo in Duero, and thy are one of the few wineries producing a pure Álbillo white wine. Behind that is the most demanding harvest regime – not due to any genetic probabilities but instead because the plants stand one by one in between the red varietals in the fashion of co-plantation, originally intended to be mixed with the red varietals. Some of the Álbillo will still be used for co-fermentations and some goes into rosé making, but the star of the show is really this one single white wine matured in ex-DRC-Montrachet barrels that has gained almost a cult following. With that, the Álbillo has come to represent the progressive, less traditional part of winemaking at Dominio del Águila, but it is a way for Jorge to bring what he learned in Burgundy to Ribera in a very specific, delicious manner.
Patience is key
Producing 80,000 to 100,000 bottles annually in a truly artisanal manner, most of the cuvées are produced in small quantities below 3000 bottles per year and are intended for aging. Surely they do have a few bread-and-butter wines, but even those receive the same attention in the vineyards and are great wines, perfectly aligned with the philosophy. The winery employs 18 full-time, year-round workers — three times more per hectare than other quality producers in the region. During the harvest, which can last 40-50 days, the team swells drastically to over 80 people. Each vineyard may be harvested up to four times, ensuring that only the best fruit makes it into the vinification; Jorge calls it “harvesting in tries but for dry wine making”. The harvest will typically finish in mid-October concluded by the Hoyo Morto and Iesu Vinum as the last.
Patience is really the keyword throughout vinification, where the craftmanship is at its highest as a natural continuum to the vineyard work. “The grapes go through rigorous sorting: 15 people from 14.00-02.000 just to sort 2000kg of grapes, and individual berries are picked off of the bunches if they are less than perfect,” Jorge explains. The grapes are then foottrotten without any destemming and, for the reds, a maceration of 50 days followes with the objective of getting a good extraction, but in a controlled manner; none of the wines are dark and inky, but rather a bright ruby with purple reflections and less color density. Jokingly Jorge says: “The color is not too black… It is not really the color of Spain”. Most of the wines then goes on for three years of aging in a 500-year-old cave for a cellar, during which, the malolactic fermentation will also take place. While the alcoholic fermentation is long – lasting a full month! – it is nothing to the malolactic which typically takes 1-2 years in cold years and 6 months in warm years!
Even when leaving outside of Jorges domain of control, he does his utmost to share his beliefs, conveyed by the beautiful finish each bottle gets with wax and sleek label design. To Jorge, it is important to help encourage the craft of the sommelier and upkeep the etiquette and ritual around opening a bottle of wine – it is the direct extension of his philosophy as a winemaker. As he says: “A moment to pay respect”
Three highlights from the tasting
2019 Canta la Perdiz: Sunny Grand Cru with very sandy, white soils. Changes label every year to represent a musical reference and Perdriz means singing. Mith a moderate to subdued color intensity, the color is significantly lighter than the rest of the lineup. Extremely aromatic in a most charming way with hints of red fruit refreshing up the dark berries and plum. Very extroverted. Narrow structure, way finer and more silky tannins than any of the other cuvées. High acidity. Extremely elegant. Production is normally just above 1000kg/ha. Screams limestone but with refined tannins of good clay. Extraordinary wine with so much x-factor. It puts emotions into movement and is something you will not forget.
2017 Canta la Perdiz: Complicated vintage, but fantastic quality. “People in Spain easily give up on the difficult years.” Jorge says. In late April -12C frost wiped out a lot of the crop and complicated the vintage. No sulfites before after the malo. No racking during 3 years of elevage. Reduced wine that needs to open up in the glass. Amarena, almond in between garrigue, plum, blueberry and violet with a roselike lift. Fennel, liquorice. More focused and narrow. Tannins that spread and lingers on the gums long after the fruit sensation is gone. Very fine tannin texture. Label Inspired by the rare good electronic music: “Out of 100 tracks 1 is good. The rest is copy-paste-copy-paste” according to Jorge.
2016 Iesu Vinum: First plot to be harvested. More liquorice. Sandy-calcaire soil. Rounded, very finely grained tannnins. More chocolate, earthy, sweet tobacco, dense, blackberry, dark forestberries. 74 months in oak. Just released two weeks ago (tasting in June). Extremely rapid ripening and can go 2% abv .up in sugars in a single day.
