If we wanted to sum up the Ribera del Duero in a few lines we could say: first there was Vega Sicilia, then came Pesquera and Peter Sisseck of Dominio de Pingus. Now we will also have to count on Jorge Monzón who is starting a new turn for the Ribera with his vineyards of old vines often pre-phylloxera planted at an altitude of 830-880 meters in the Aguilera region.

Before producing your own wines, you worked in several prestigious estates. Can you tell us about your

career?

Before starting to study wine in France, I started working in the vineyards with my father who passed on to me the culture, viticultural and traditional, of the Ribera del Duero. It is the richness of our region that gave me this passion for wine and the ambition to learn in the most renowned vineyards: Bordeaux and then Burgundy. I had the chance to work for two years at Domaine de La Romanée-Conti. For me, it was the discovery of a vineyard and its unique wines, but also a human experience that left me with unforgettable memories. Then I worked at Vega Sicilia, which is another facet of the Ribera, before starting to develop my own style of wine at Bodega Arzuaga. It was after all these experiences that I created my own estate, Dominio del Aguila, in 2010.

You settled on the highest part of the Ribera del Duero. What are the characteristics of this place?

Dominio del Águila is located in the heart of the Ribera Del Duero appellation. The altitude allows us to have cool nights. Combined with the sandy soils on the surface, these parameters allow us to preserve the acidity of the Tempranillo and Albillo. In fact, they benefit from a water reserve thanks to the rock that is found in the subsoil of La Aguilera. These are the simple but essential parameters that allow us to produce fresh wines with a deep structure.

Dominio del Aguila is made up of several hundred micro-plots. How did this come about and how do you make your choices to acquire these plots? What does all this diversity bring you?

I started with my father's plots. I realized that in the Ribera del Duero, much more than in other vineyards, the old vines with deep roots allow the plant to regulate its metabolism to produce grapes of the best quality. That is why I focused on growing small plots of old vines, all from the same village of La Aguilera. Each plot is different, this diversity allows us to select the best grapes for the development of our range.

You have atypical cellars where your wines are aged. It’s impossible to fit a lightning bolt in there, for example! What are the daily difficulties and what is the added value to the aging process?

These physical constraints imposed on us by our underground cellars, which make our daily work more difficult, allow us to focus on what is important: the human element. In these caves shaped by man, there is no room for mechanization. This allows us to be as close as possible to our wines and to follow their evolution precisely. In addition, these narrow cellars allow us to preserve the freshness and humidity that vary slightly over the seasons. This is perhaps what makes the wine more alive…

You are going against the historical style of Ribera with wines that are not marked by wood, with a very beautiful aromatic expression, by using grape varieties other than Tempranillo. What are you looking for when you produce your wines and how do you achieve this?

The emblematic grape variety of our region is Tempranillo. Traditionally, it was blended with Albillo (white grape variety) to produce Claretes. That is why I chose to continue to vinify this style of Ribera wine in a traditional way. In our reds, Tempranillo remains the majority, and the vinification is traditional and respects the work done in the vineyard. This is what sets Dominio del Aguila wines apart.

What we are looking for is for the taster to have a new experience, to be surprised by the identity and of course to enjoy drinking our wine. Ribera is an appellation that the world is still discovering. There are great things to do that will allow people to discover this region through its wines. That is why I see a bright future for Ribera