The 2021 Pícaro del Águila Tinto is a polished and approachable Ribera del Duero red, rated 94 points by The Wine Advocate. Ripe and velvety with round tannins and serious structure, it offers black fruit, wild herbs, and floral notes on a fresh, elegant palate. A standout entry-level wine with depth and balance.

The Wine Advocate | RP 94
Published: Jun 13, 2024
Drink: 2024-2029

I tasted two vintages of the entry-level wine, starting with the 2021 Pícaro del Águila Tinto. It's ripe and round, with round tannins, velvety and polished, approachable and hedonistic. It's nicely built and serious, very serious for an entry level. 60,387 bottles and 1,968 magnums produced. It was bottled in February 2023. 

Dominio del Águila now produces some 90,000 bottles since they are not selling grapes anymore. 2023 was very dry, then there was frost, and the crop was small; but it rained in September and the temperatures went down, so the year was saved because they harvested early. He compared it to 2014, maybe 2009.

In 2022, they had to rush the harvest, because it rained during the harvest. It had been very warm and dry, with a torrid summer. The result is better than expected. 2021 was a classical Ribera vintage: a cold winter with snow, rain and a bit of frost and a warm but moderate summer. They waited. It's a powerful and concentrated year with balance. He compared it with 2015, 2011 and 2006. The good stuff is very good. Jorge Monzón considers 2020 to be an almost prefect vintage—cool and fresh, reminiscent of the great 2016. 2019 was warm and dry, healthy, excellent for white. 2018 was cool and pretty.

Dominiodelaguila.com

Picaro del Aguila is a ripe red wine with a clean nose of black fruit accompanied by herbaceous notes, wild flowers and a menthol base. On the palate it's fresh, deep and elegant. A medium-bodied, pleasantly tannic wine with refreshing acidity. The finish is long, persistent and round.

Starting with viticulture and ending with winemaking, at Dominio del Águila we really strive to do everything in an artisanal way, being very respectful of nature and creating a symbiosis between tradition and knowledge. From the use of herbal infusions, such as valerian or yarrow, for the treatment of the vines, to the fact that the wine is not clarified or filtered.

With these premises, Dominio del Águila's ultimate goal is to make pure and fine wines. Organic wines that are capable of aging for a long, long time, but that can still be enjoyed at any time.

All of them are made without destemming and are trodden in the winepress as in the past. Malolactic fermentation takes place in top-quality oak vats and ageing takes place in underground galleries. There are currently around 250 oak vats.

The winery's main brand is DOMINIO DEL AGUILA. It is a red reserve wine  aged for more than 30 months in French oak barrels. We also make a claret  and a red wine  aged for about 15 months, called PÍCARO DEL AGUILA. These wines are the basis of our work, but we also have a variety of terroirs with great personality, such as CANTA LA PERDIZ, a grand reserve  aged for more than 40 months in oak barrels.