The 2020 Pícaro del Águila Tinto is a superbly elegant and powerful Ribera del Duero red made from old, organically farmed vines. Rated 95 points by The Wine Advocate, it offers aromas of black fruit, smoked meat, and violets, with a chalky, fresh palate and perfectly integrated oak.

The Wine Advocate | RP 95
Published: Jan 31, 2023
Drink: 2023-2030

The juicy, velvety and aromatic red 2020 Pícaro del Águila Tinto is fine-boned and quite faithfully represents what they want to express with this cuvée; it's very tasty and has some chalkiness (perhaps through less ripeness than in years like 2018) with 14% alcohol and mellow acidity. The nose reveals some Côte-Rôtie-like notes of smoked meat and violets. 2020 delivered a good crop of healthy grapes that produced the finest wine to date for this bottling. This is superb, elegant and powerful, with everything in place (seems to be the signature of 2020) and perfectly integrated oak. 71,382 bottles and 1,979 magnums produced. It was bottled in September 2021.

At Dominio del Águila they are building an extension to their winery in the outskirts of La Aguilera, the hamlet of Aranda de Duero, where they have an impressive collection of old, head-pruned vineyards—35 hectares, all certified organic (like all their wines) vines averaging 100 years of age to produce their current 50,000 bottles with the idea to eventually reach 80,000 bottles. There is a new-single vineyard "clarete" rosé from Peñas Aladas in 2020, an ideal vintage that follows the style of the cool 2016, and they don't stop experimenting and searching for new ways.

Dominiodelaguila.com

Picaro del Aguila 2020 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.