Village G Force
We are now in receipt of our second and final consignment of 2022 vintage Comando G (before you could say “Garnacha” the first shipment had all but sold out…). Here is a sneaky preview of a new project that Dani and Fernando have been working on. It is well-known that the guys view the unique terroir of Gredos to be as complex and varied as that of Burgundy, with Grenache being the noble articulator of the facets and “climats” of granite. The cru wines, from single tiny vineyard plots, are now as Grand Cru including the celebrated Tumba del Rey, Rumbo el Norte, El Tamboril and Las Umbrias. They are the clearest expression of these sites from vintage to vintage.
The new project is to create a small range of village, or pueblo, wines, blending in each case from three to four plots, to capture the distinctiveness of the particular micro-zone. All the wines are from organically-farmed methods and made with the trademark Comando G light touch with gentle extraction and oak as purely a background detail.
The boys describe 2022 as a “purely Mediterranean vintage” (winespeak for hot and dry!). The year was marked by a rainy autumn, followed by a dry and bright winter. The trend changed with a spring that was three times rainier than usual. The cycle continued with an austere and demanding summer with heat and drought. Quite a contrast to 2020, in particular, and also 2021.
We begin with Navatalgordo in the DOP of Cebreros, Valle del Alto Alberche. The climate in this lofty village might be described as continental high mountain. The plots are called El Sotillo, El Barreno & Los Gorgones, the age of the vines 60 years plus, the altitude 1,100 m above sea level and the soils granite.
The three plots are picked and vinified separately in open oak vats with soft maceration and no use of pump-overs or any other extractive techniques. 100% whole clusters are used, fermentation is with indigenous yeasts, the maceration period lasts 45-days on average, and maturation is in foudres and concrete tanks for 10 months. The wine is bottled without filtering or fining and just a small quantity of sulphites added.
Navatalgordo is the village with the highest vineyards in Gredos, where the main characteristic is mineral quartz-rich soils and very little clay. The Grenache captures the rockiness, the austerity, and the tension of this remarkable landscape. By the way, this is where the El Tamboril vineyard is located.
Villanueva, also D.O.P Cebreros in the Valle del Alto Alberche, (the village being Villanueva de Ávila) comes from three plots La Cañada, Las Herguijuela & El Robledillo of varying orientation. This is the smallest production of all the village wines with just over 2,700 bottles made. The altitude is 1,000 m, and the vines are also 60-years-old plus. Harvest takes place a week or so earlier than Navatalgordo.
The wine is made in exactly the same way, each plot fermented separately, non-extractive methods used and ageing here being 10 months of 20 hl foudres as well as some demijohns.
The Villaneuva soil characteristics are granite with silt which provides the length, finesse and elegance to the wine. This is where the Tumba del Rey vineyard is located, arguably the most ethereal of the Comando G Garnachas.
Rozas is classified as DO Madrid and the village is familiar to us as Rozas de Puerto Real in the southern part of Gredos. Four plots are farmed to make this wine: Entrepinos, Matallanas, Alisps and Guija. The climate might be described as humid Mediterranean, and the soils are a real mix of granite, sand and silt. Altitude here is 900 metres above sea level, the vines are older than those in the north, being 90 years + and the farming is biodynamic. After harvesting at the end of September, whole-cluster fermentation takes place in open oak and concrete vats, with the usual gentle maceration (45-days) before maturing for a further 10 months in oak foudres and concrete vats of 12, 14 and 20 hl. Because of the climate, this is by far the richest of the three village wines with greater sweetness and warmth of fruit augmented by exotic spice and herbs.
2022 Navatalgordo
2022 Villaneuva
2022 Rozas
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Our allocations of these wines are extremely limited, we cannot guarantee availability but will try our best to meet your requirements. You can contact us directly:
shop@lescaves.co.uk | sales@lescaves.co.uk | 01483 538820