Producer Dominio del Águila

Dominio del Águila produce some of the finest, most complex and elegant Tinto Fino we’ve come across. Right now they’re only known by a few people in the wine world who have their ears to the ground, but that won’t be the case for long. Jorge and Isabel, husband and wife and business partners, have shot to the top of the peaking order in a couple of years and they are just getting started. What’s in barrel now is even better than whats been bottled, and what’s been bottled is already some of the best we’ve ever seen.

t’s difficult to find something to write about Dominio del Águila that hasn’t already been written before by someone with better qualifications than me. Peter Sisseck of Dominio de Pingus called it the most exciting new project in Ribera del Duero. Luis Gutierrez refers to them as having leapt straight to the top of the quality hierarchy in just a couple of years. In the last Wine Advocate roundup for Ribera two of the Dominio del Águila wines were in the top five for the region. The other three of the top five all retail for more than a $1000.00 AUD. Although all the kudos is great for the young husband and wife team behind Dominio del Águila, what’s more important is what they are actually doing. Big scores and big praise is not a new thing in Ribera del Duero, but the approach and skill they bring to the region is a true rarity. Dominio del Águila was founded in 2010 by Ribera del Duero natives Jorge Monzon and Isabel Rodero. Prior to 2010 Jorge had spent his formative years under Aubert de Villaine at Domaine de la Romanee-Conti in Burgundy before moving back to Ribera to work with Vega Sicilia and then Aalto. An obsessive focus on viticulture as the route to the expression of terroir underpins everything that happens at Dominio del Águila and is a clear reflection of the time Jorge spent at DRC. But there’s an intelligence at work here that is more than just mimicking the greats, Jorge’s adaptation of biodynamics being a case in point, rather than apply the exact methods learnt from Aubert in Burgundy, Jorge has reworked each step to suit the specific challenges of the Ribera climate. It is this considered, thoughtful and deliberate farming that results in wines that are simply fantastic.

Dominio del Águila currently farm 30 hectares but only 10 of those are earmarked for the Dominio del Águila wines. The remainder make their way into some of the region’s most iconic wines – Flor de Pingus and Vega Sicilia among them. All of Jorge’s vineyards are old vines, many pre-phylloxera, clustered around the hamlet of La Aguilera. Whilst the local Tinto Fino dominates, all of these old vineyards are dotted with other varietals that add complexity and vibrancy to the wines. Bobal, Albillo, Carinyena, Tempranillo Gris are all embraced as integral parts of the Ribera landscape. The town’s name; La Aguilera translates as ‘Eagles Nest,’ it’s a town that’s perched on top of a steep hill overlooking the Ribera del Duero plain, the top soil here is thin, meaning the old vines reach straight down into the limestone bedrock. This combination of soil, altitude, old vines and meticulous farming results in wines that are incredibly powerful, intense and firmly structured. They are built for long, long, lives.