Dominio del Aguila - Clarete, Pícaro del Aguila,

Ribera Del Duero, Spain 2018

This is not your typical rosé! ‘Picaro Clarete’ is a whole cluster, spontaneously co-fermented blend of Grenache, Tempranillo, and multiple other indigenous varietals, aged in French oak for 23 months. Where other rosés struggle to compete with the test of time, this wine excels. This is a wine to experience, with aromas of blood orange, toasted hazelnuts, warm cinnamon, tart cherries, peach skin, smokey minerals, and salty watermelon, striking a balance between power and finesse - an exquisite rosé with the complexity to satisfy even the most sophisticated palates. 

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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 93 Points - "I tasted three vintages of the pink clarete, starting with the 2017 Pícaro del Águila Clarete. It was produced with a field blend of red and white grapes, approximately 35% Tempranillo, 35% Albillo Mayor and the rest a mixture of many different varieties from different old vines in the village of La Aguilera. It's a wine with aromas of a white and the soul of a red, really different from a rosé. It fermented slowly in oak casks for eight to nine months in a very cold underground cave and matured in cask for some 23 months. Despite the warm and low-yielding year, the wine keeps a moderate alcohol and very healthy pH. This has already developed the beautiful spicy perfume that makes me think of the rosé from López de Heredia. The 2017 is open and seems to have developed a little faster. The wine is balanced and tasty, without the chalky and fresh sensation of the 2019, perhaps a little like the 2012 (the first vintage released). Even if this is developing a little faster, the color is very stable. Even a vintage like this should drink well for a decade." - Luis Gutiérrez

Domino Del Águila is a family winery based in La Aguilera, a small village in Ribera del Duero, and run by a couple formed by Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero, vigneron and architect respectively. The domain's greatest asset is the vineyard. They work with 30 hectares of very old vines, mostly in organic farming, apart from 5 additional hectares relatively young (under 50 years). They are grapes suppliers of some of the main wineries in the region for more than 10 vintages.

Their passion is the vineyard, but thier unique style manifests in the cellar. Jorge comes from a family of many generations of vignerons. His studies were based in ‘Soil, viticulture and oenology’ at the Universities of Bordeaux and Burgundy. He worked with prestigious wineries such as Domaine De La Romanée-Conti for more than two years. He has also worked in Spain in the Vega Sicilia Group for a year and as technical director of Bodegas Arzuaga-Navarro for nine years. Since 2013 he works full time in Dominio del Águila.

Chateau de Pitray - Premier Vin, Castillon, Cotes de Bordeaux 2018

WE91/D91/WA90-92

Decanter - 91 - "Well textured, velvety fruits sit on a firm and fresh palate. This is good quality, stretching out in the mouth with tannins that are fully supportive of the project, not getting in the way but cheerleading as the fruit takes its first steps. There is so much to enjoy in the smaller appellations this year."

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Alain Graillot - Crozes-Hermitage, Northern Rhone 2019

WA92+/V91-93

Wine Advocate 92+ "Atypically big, rich and velvety, the 2019 Crozes Hermitage emanates from a vintage whose yields were cut in half by hail. Bottled in March 2021, it delivers rolling waves of ripe black cherries, tinged with understated herbal notes and a long, luxuriously textured finish."

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Cheers! -Alex

Alexander Knechel - Certified Sommelier

Wine Sales Manager - Plucky Wines

alexanderknechel@pluckywines.com