Dominio del Águila
About Dominio del Águila
Founded as recently as 2010, Bodegas Dominio del Águila is forging a new path through its incredible cuvées from the famous Ribera del Duero region in Spain. Famed, quite rightly, for its staggeringly rich, bold and uncompromising wines, this young estate is offering an altogether more elegant, restrained and highly terroir-focused interpretation of the region and its varietals. Judging by both the demand for its wines and the critical acclaim achieved in well under a decade, this is clearly an alternative of which oenophiles are more than welcome.
Situated in the village of La Aguilera, Dominio del Águila is the brainchild of Jorge Mónzon and partner Isabel Rodero. Collectors may be surprised that wine of such quality can be crafted by such a young winemaker from an estate very much in its infancy. It just so happens that Jorge boasts what may be the single most impressive CV of any young winemaker on Earth – his very first full-time viticultural position was at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti! Departing France for his native Spain, he worked at one of the most famous estates in the country, Vega-Sicilia.
Viniculture
It was whilst working at Bodegas Arzuaga-Navarro, however, that the ambitious vigneron came across a number of ancient vineyard parcels whose grapes were being sold to, and used in the prestige cuvées of, other wineries across the region. Seizing his moment, Jorge and Isabel snatched these plots up, mainly Tempranillo, some of which were over 100 years old.
Farmed fully biodynamically, terroir expression is extraordinarily important to the couple. “Our goal is to make pure and fine wines” says Jorge, and Dominio del Águila would certainly win the golden boot in this regard. Chief amongst their deeply covetable range is the breath-taking “Peñas Aladas” Gran Reserva. Sourced from some of the very oldest vines in La Aguilera on the eponymous hillside of Peñas Aladas, this is a unique and fascinating terroir within the region. Situated at a lofty 880 meters above sea-level, these vineyard plots are some three whole degrees Celsius cooler than the average temperature in the surrounding area. A cool climate site, in the context of Ribera del Duero, the terroir is conducive to long, slow fruit maturation giving complexity and power to the sublime grapes.
| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Castilla y Leon | 1 | 97 (WA) |
Inc. GST
SG$3,016.49 |
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Wine Advocate (97)I also tasted the 2017 Canta la Perdiz from the low-yielding and warm year marked by spring frost. The Tempranillo field blend clusters fermented in concrete vats with natural yeasts after being foot trodden. The wine went through malolactic and 39 months of aging in oak barrels, mostly French, for 39 months. It has the perfume and approachability of the 2017s, but there's a lot more finesse here, the quality of the tannins is superb, and there's great balance and freshness. Another 2017 that transcends the vintage. The label is different each vintage, and in this different year, it does have a surprising, somewhat Ponsot-like label...1,103 bottles and 10 magnums were filled in March 2021. |
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Castilla y Leon | 1 | 96 (TA) |
Inc. GST
SG$666.47 |
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Tim Atkin MW (96)Produced in what Jorge Monzón calls the "tragic", frost-hit 2017 vintage, when yields were down 85%, this shows that, in the right hands, what survived was often very good indeed. Marrying Tinto Fino with 5% Monastrell and 2% Albillo Mayor, all of it aged in old wood, this is herbal, chalky and intense, with stem ginger and wild strawberry flavours, fine tannins and impressive length. |
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Castilla y Leon | 1 | 93 (WA) |
Inc. GST
SG$798.84 |
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Wine Advocate (93)2017 was an unusually short crop as a result of terrible frost in April 2017, when thermometers reached -10 degrees Celsius in some places. The 2017 Pícaro del Águila Tinto, their entry-level and most approachable red, was seriously affected, of course. They lost some 60% of the volume, but the wine is incredible for the condition of the year. It feels a little more mysterious, not as expressive or open, a bit reductive perhaps, but the aromas are clean and don't show any excess ripeness. They did an amazing job eliminating all the raisins that didn't make it into the fermentation vat, and the extra workload has clearly paid off. The wine has some grip and fine, chalky tannins. 17,025 bottles and 487 magnums produced. It was bottled unfiltered and unfined and with just a little sulfur added in October 2018 after 12 months in oak barrels. |
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| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Castilla y Leon | 1 | 97 (WA) |
In Bond
SG$2,710.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)I also tasted the 2017 Canta la Perdiz from the low-yielding and warm year marked by spring frost. The Tempranillo field blend clusters fermented in concrete vats with natural yeasts after being foot trodden. The wine went through malolactic and 39 months of aging in oak barrels, mostly French, for 39 months. It has the perfume and approachability of the 2017s, but there's a lot more finesse here, the quality of the tannins is superb, and there's great balance and freshness. Another 2017 that transcends the vintage. The label is different each vintage, and in this different year, it does have a surprising, somewhat Ponsot-like label...1,103 bottles and 10 magnums were filled in March 2021. |
|||||||||
|
|
Castilla y Leon | 1 | 96 (TA) |
In Bond
SG$556.00 |
|||||
Tim Atkin MW (96)Produced in what Jorge Monzón calls the "tragic", frost-hit 2017 vintage, when yields were down 85%, this shows that, in the right hands, what survived was often very good indeed. Marrying Tinto Fino with 5% Monastrell and 2% Albillo Mayor, all of it aged in old wood, this is herbal, chalky and intense, with stem ginger and wild strawberry flavours, fine tannins and impressive length. |
|||||||||
|
|
Castilla y Leon | 1 | 93 (WA) |
In Bond
SG$622.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (93)2017 was an unusually short crop as a result of terrible frost in April 2017, when thermometers reached -10 degrees Celsius in some places. The 2017 Pícaro del Águila Tinto, their entry-level and most approachable red, was seriously affected, of course. They lost some 60% of the volume, but the wine is incredible for the condition of the year. It feels a little more mysterious, not as expressive or open, a bit reductive perhaps, but the aromas are clean and don't show any excess ripeness. They did an amazing job eliminating all the raisins that didn't make it into the fermentation vat, and the extra workload has clearly paid off. The wine has some grip and fine, chalky tannins. 17,025 bottles and 487 magnums produced. It was bottled unfiltered and unfined and with just a little sulfur added in October 2018 after 12 months in oak barrels. |
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