2021 Comando G - Tierra de Castilla Y Leon El Tiemblo Las Iruelas (750ml)

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This single-plot wine comes from the most varied soils of Comando G farms: granite, slate, schist, and quartz with patches of clay. A cellar-worthy, deeply mineral wine with Northern Rhone-like aromatics.

Comando G has been making ethereal, high-altitude Garnatxa in the Gredos mountains (not far from Madrid) for about 15 years, and it’s safe to say that they’re undisputed champions of the style. These are some of Spain's cultiest and most compelling wines.

How they accomplished this is most remarkable. Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia knew that there were small, remote plots of ancient vines scattered in and around villages across the Sierra de Gredos. Some were still being taken care of by elderly people, while others had been abandoned for a long time. Landi and Garcia would track these sites down by drinking at local taverns and befriending old farmers.

These places, ranging from 685 to 1262 meters, almost defy belief. Looking out from many of them, you won’t see a trace of civilization. The terrains are rocky and raw, with some vineyards littered with giant stones as big as a car breaking up the rows of vines. Each site is different, and Landi and Garcia aim to showcase these various places by vinifying them separately and making the wines as transparent as possible.

Comando G was strongly influenced by the elegant Chateauneuf-du-Papes of Chateau Rayas; like Rayas, many of the sites in the Gredos Mountains feature sandy soils, which is thought to imbue wines with lightness and finesse. But the team was also strongly influenced by Burgundy, and the reds have a silkiness that recalls fine Pinot Noir.