Dominio del Aguila's Reserva Blanco is a trailblazing wine in the Ribera del Duero region. Made from old Albillo Mayor vines in the high, cold limestones soils of Aguilera at around 900m absl farmed using the meticulous biodynamic and organic methods of Jorge Monzon. It is, like all of his wines, complex, delicious, age worthy and thought provoking - as the impartial tasting note below can attest too. But it is also the wine that convinced the official Ribera del Duero governing body, a notoriously conservative D.O., that Ribera del Duero could indeed produce white wine capable of rivalling the greatest reds from the region and should therefore be included in the official D.O. True to Jorge's character, this wasn't achieved through hard lobbying, or grand campaigns; he simply produced one Spain's greatest whites every year since his first vintage which gained such high rankings and accolades year after year that the D.O. could no longer ignore it...
That impartial tasting note I mentioned? From Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate Issue 246: "The white from Domninio del Aguila is one of the first whites from he Ribera del Duero appellation, which just approved the category in September 2019. It's also one o the finest whites from the region (and from Spain), used by the appellation to present the new category of wines as an example of the ageing potential of the style, which was produced at this address in 2012, 2014, and 2015 and until now sold as generic 'Vino de Espana' The fourth vintage bottled is this 2016 Blanco, which is insulting young and backward, with incredible tension, 13% alcohol and a pH of 3.08, which is achieved in cool vintages, crafted as the best white Burgundies, as it's produced with the idea of a true vin de garden. This 2016 took almost two years to complete fermentation, because it ferments in oak barrels in a very cold cellar. This is the finest vintage, with citrus notes, hints of smoke and incredible tension and freshness in the palate, This has the tenderness of a baby and should have a slower development than any of the previous vintages. It was hand bottled - unfined and unfiltered after 32 months in barrel - into 4,855 bottles and 80 magnums in June 2019. These are wines that deserve being revisited a few years after their bottling... 97 points. Drink 2022 - 2031."
