One thinks typically of the Ribera del Duero as a more \u2018serious\u2019, what with the neighborhood harboring such heavyweights as Vega Sicilia, Hacienda del Monasterio, Pingus, and Pesquera. The term \u2018Picaro\u2019, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picaro definitely operates \u2018outside the box\u2019 for an area like the Ribera. Sure you\u2019ve 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\u2019s call it a rogue within the typical confines of the region, but more accurately it is Ribera with its \u2018party hat\u2019 on yet with the complexity and dimension to be taken seriously alongside the icons of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s 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 \u2018old school\u2019 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s wild fruit notes, more lifted personality, and outgoing spiciness can only be described as\u2026fun. Sure there are structural things that you can point to with wine aficionados that will present the appropriate level of gravitas<\/em>. 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 \u2018modern\u2019 Riberas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jorge Monzon and Elizabeth Rodero founded the winery only in 2010 after Jorge spent years selling his produce to \u2018several high profile neighbors\u2019. 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\u2019t done it in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We aren\u2019t the only fans either. \u00a0Their stock has gone up with Wine Advocate\u2019s Luis Gutierrez who wrote, \u201cI tasted two vintages of the entry-level red, of which the young 2018 P\u00edcaro del \u00c1guila Tinto<\/a><\/strong> 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<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Aguila\u2019 is Spanish for \u2018eagle\u2019, and this eagle is flying high, if maybe a little bit outside the typical stylistic boundaries of typical Riberas.\u00a0 But this is a bold, exciting twist and a welcome addition to the genre as Jorge Monzon is a breed apart from \u2018typical\u2019.\u00a0 A rogue? Yeah, maybe.\u00a0 Delicious? Absolutely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One thinks typically of the Ribera del Duero as a more \u2018serious\u2019, what with the neighborhood harboring such heavyweights as Vega Sicilia, Hacienda del Monasterio, Pingus, and Pesquera. The term \u2018Picaro\u2019, the brainchild of Dominio di Aguila, refers to someone who is a rascal, or a rogue. The question posed by Picaro is, can a … Continue reading “PICARO RIBERA DEL DUERO VINES VIEJAS 2018”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37],"tags":[578,483,241,545,32],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3888"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3894,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3888\/revisions\/3894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}