Dominio del Águila, Pícaro del Águila Vinas Viejas, Ribera del Duero | 2021

I often poke fun at Ribera for its cookie-cutter reds dipped in oak and “GMO” fruit, but that’s not fair to producers like Águila, who are doing the exact opposite. When I tasted this cuvée, Pícaro del Águila, it was a good reminder that power and elegance can happily co-exist—and that an alcohol percentage is not a measure of terroir, balance, or deliciousness.

Dominio del Águila is a name to know, founded by husband-and-wife team Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero in 2010. Just north of Aranda de Duero, where the altitude creeps toward 900 meters, they’re making transcendent expressions of Tempranillo that will make you shiver. Pícaro is a whole cluster, co-fermentation of Tempranillo with Albillo, Garnacha, and Bobal, which begins in concrete then finishes in French oak. Packed with grit and soul, Pícaro is a “greatest hits” record of black fruit, sour red candy, indigo flowers, chalky white spice, and torched earth. It’s generous without being oaky or thick or steroid velvety, and the finish stretches on—bone dry, with a nice medium grip that will make you reach for another the glass. This one’s going to be on our shelves for a very long time. ~Allegra Angelo