Ribera del Duero Gran Reserva 'Peñas Aladas'
Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero, the husband and wife team behind
Dominio del Águila, shows us both the forgotten history and bright future
of Ribera del Duero and its wines. With more than century old vines,
old local varieties, a wide genetic diversity, countless of clones and
cautious wine making they are reshaping and redefining the way the
wines of Ribera del Duero are seen upon.
For Jorge it sort of started in France. He left his hometown of La Aguilera
to study viticulture, oenology and soil at the universities in Bordeaux and
Beaune. During his time in Burgundy he somehow made his way into
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti where he worked under cellar master
Bernard Noblet observing and learning every aspect of their methods.
After DRC Jorge returned home, here he worked a few years at Vega Sicilia
before taking on the position of technical director at Arzuaga-Navarro.
During this time at these different estates and with his accumulated
knowledge Jorge began to purchase vineyards in La Aguilera.
His time at DRC had given Jorge an understanding of the importance of
terroir and tradition, at Vega-Sicilia he’d also understood how essential
old vines and old clones were if you want to make really good wine in
Ribera del Duero. For this reasons the vineyards Jorge sought were old
vineyards, really old. These were often plots in danger of being ripped up
due to their content of low-yielding old local varieties and to make place
for trendy Bordeaux varieties or high-yielding clones of Tempranillo.
Some of Jorge and Isabel’s vineyards were planted before phylloxera, or
right after it struck the vines around his home village. These were planted
exactly as they had been for centuries – predominantly Tempranillo with a
wide genetic diversity along side Albillo, Tempranillo Gris, Cariñena,
Garnacha, Bobal, Bruñal and other varieties so obscure that they haven’t
been identified yet. Ranging in age from 60-150+ years old, it is surprising
that these vines survived at all considering the recent trend in Ribera del
Duero for everything new, shinny and perfectly predictable.
Dominio del Águila was founded 2010 and since 2013 Jorge dedicates all
his time here. Today the estate tends 35 hectares of vines. 30 of these are
older than 50 years and 5 “young” hectares, i.e. below 50 years of age, so
not so young really. Jorge and Isabel are true growers, working
organically. They really try hard to do everything in an artisanal way, being
very respectful with nature and creating a symbiosis between tradition
and technical knowledge.
TERROIR VIN • www.terroirvin.seFrom the use of herb-infused juices to treat the vines to the cautious
vinification. They do not vinify every bunch of grapes that they grow and
still sell much of their fruit to wineries around in the region, including
Vega-Sicilia and Arzuaga — tells of the quality of fruit!
When it comes to the winemaking, also this aspect at the estate is historic
and traditional. The winery consist of an ancient bodega dating back to
the 1600’s which Isabel, being an architect, restored. So also with the six
deep subterranean cellars dating back to 1400’s. Harvest is manual, the
must is never altered, fermentations occur spontaneous without any
additions with the exception of some low sulphuring. They are co-
fermented, blue and green varieties mixed, and maceration is done gently
through foot-pigeage. After primary fermentation the wines are
transferred to oak barrels in the cellars. Their cold, subterranean cellars
ensure that the evolution of their wines proceeds slowly, allowing for the
development of greater complexity and nuance. Wines are neither filtered
nor fined.
At Dominio del Águila the historic wine style Clarete is also being revived.
It’s pink, it’s not a rosé, it’s a Clarete. Red and white varieties harvested
and fermented together, with long ageing in oak. A fantastic white wine of
Albillo is also made. It has gotten great international acclaim and in
extension caused the Consejo Regulador to permit white wines under DO
Ribera del Duero, previously is has been classified under ‘Castilla y Léon’.
It is safe to safe that Jorge and Isabel with their Domino del Águila are in
the forefront of not only Ribera del Duero but also the whole of Spain, the
world of wine if you will! These wines are masterpieces of the highest
pedigree full of concentration, complexity, freshness and history.
Peña Aladas, or winged stones, refers to a tiny group of small, rocky
vineyard plots well over 100 years old in age and surrounded by pine
forests. Like old vineyards elsewhere in Spain, there is a mix of grape
varieties. About 85% is planted to Tempranillo with the remainder a mix of
Cariñena, Bruñal, Bobal, Albillo, Garnacha and others. These sites are
picked by hand, and the fruit sees a natural yeast, co-fermentation in tank
before racking into French oak barrels for 51 months of aging in the deep
and cold cellars of Dominio del Águila.