One thinks typically of the Ribera del Duero as a more ‘serious’, what with the neighborhood harboring such heavyweights as Vega Sicilia, Hacienda del Monasterio, Pingus, and Pesquera. The term ‘Picaro’, the brainchild of Dominio di Aguila, refers to someone who is a rascal, or a rogue. The question posed by Picaro is, can a Ribera be, well, fun? While they are clearly deadly serious about their winemaking, they seem to be able to be a lot more light-hearted with their winery persona.
Picaro definitely operates ‘outside the box’ for an area like the Ribera. Sure you’ve got your Tempranillo here, the backbone grape of the region, and the specific clone that the region hangs it hat on. But here it is co-fermented with an unusual mixture of Garnacha, Bobal (a grape we associate with climes further south), and Albillo (the rare, indigenous white of the Ribera). So what do you get? Well, let’s call it a rogue within the typical confines of the region, but more accurately it is Ribera with its ‘party hat’ on yet with the complexity and dimension to be taken seriously alongside the icons of the region.
There’s plenty of richness here, but there is also a lift to the flavors that is unlike anything else we have tasted from the Ribera, as well as a certain ‘old school’ demeanor that speaks more of Rioja than the Ribera. Gushing berry and cassis flavors steal the show, but there are also streaks that are like a marinated black cherry, some (Rioja-like) dusty spice, and refined tannins to let you know that this is no ordinary Ribera.
The vine age here is somewhere north of 50-years-old, and the property is farmed organically/biodynamically, with grapes trodden by foot before being put in French oak for malo-lactic fermentation and a sojourn of 12-20 months in wood. The vineyards here are north-facing, which give the wine a little cooler profile to begin with. It all sounds formal enough yet the wine’s wild fruit notes, more lifted personality, and outgoing spiciness can only be described as…fun. Sure there are structural things that you can point to with wine aficionados that will present the appropriate level of gravitas. But you could just haul off and drink this with reckless abandon (responsibly of course) in a way that would seem inappropriate with most, admittedly more ‘modern’ Riberas.
Jorge Monzon and Elizabeth Rodero founded the winery only in 2010 after Jorge spent years selling his produce to ‘several high profile neighbors’. The winemaking is pretty serious here as well and they have definitely separated themselves from the pack in a very good way. We can only marvel at their successful new approach and how Aguila takes such a stylistic diversion and makes you wonder why more people haven’t done it in this way.
We aren’t the only fans either. Their stock has gone up with Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez who wrote, “I tasted two vintages of the entry-level red, of which the young 2018 Pícaro del Águila Tinto had just been bottled and should be released soon. This is their most approachable red, and it has the depth, concentration and nuance of the best wines from many wineries. It’s produced in a more jovial style, but the wine comes from old vines that always have a field blend with small percentages of whatever grapes that are all fermented together, and these vines always produce a serious and deep wine. In 2018, it matured in French oak barrels for 11 months. This is very young and tender, expressive and aromatic, very much in line with the 2016. It has lots of energy and power, more than you might think, and it’s serious. It’s drinkable now, but it should get even better with some time in bottle….94 points.”
‘Aguila’ is Spanish for ‘eagle’, and this eagle is flying high, if maybe a little bit outside the typical stylistic boundaries of typical Riberas. But this is a bold, exciting twist and a welcome addition to the genre as Jorge Monzon is a breed apart from ‘typical’. A rogue? Yeah, maybe. Delicious? Absolutely.