2022 Comando G Viticultores, La Bruja Tinto, Valle del Tietar, Sierra de Gredos, Vinos de Madrid D.O., Spain.
The beautifully chiseled, limpid ruby/garnet hued and ripely layered 2022 La Bruja Garnacha by Dani Land and Freddy Garcia of Comando G is a class act, again, in the glass with pretty florals, sultry earth and sexy fruit concentration. This is pure and riveting Garnacha from old vines up at around 900 meters above sea level in the Sierra de Gredos region in the mountains that overlook Madrid. The medium bodied palate has youthful freshness, but is very serious stuff with raspberry, plum, strawberry and brandied cherry fruits, along with some whole cluster pop, bramble and pomegranate undercurrents, along with snappy herbs, anise, subtle sandalwood, cinnamon, rose petals, grilled orange and peppery accents. There’s some grip and tannin that carry the flavors, but also a long silky mouthfeel that really makes this a hugely rewarding wine. Using organic grapes, grown on vines that range from 50 to 80 years old and are planted on sandy soils, with weathered from granite, slate, and quartz, farmed with biodynamic methods, Comando G’s La Bruja, 100% Grenache, was all hand harvested, with winemakers Landi and Garcia employing a natural yeast fermentation with the noted partial whole cluster (depending on vintage) and a long 40-60 day maceration. After which, the wine is racked to wood, that as they note, then saw an elevage of nine months in mainly large neutral French 500L and 700L oak vats, or a little old foudre, and sometimes even some clay amphorae to mature, which all adds up to transparency, terroir influence and authentic character.
As I’ve said before, every year these Comando G wines seem to get better and better, these are stunning wines that are almost Burgundy like class, in fact with its slight reduction, mineral tones and light graphite notes at the start they can remind me of a Premier Cru Nuits-Saint-Georges, but with dark Grenache purity. Comando G Viticultores is a small winery in the Sierra de Gredos, this special terroir in the mountains above Madrid in Castilla y Leon, central Spain, making hand crafted wines, it is led by the talented duo of Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia, who have been friends since their school days and they formed Camando G in 2008, after always wanting to work together, even though they had successful careers with their own wine concerns, Bodegas Jimenez-Landi and Fernando at Bodega Marañones. As widely noted, and reported here, the Sierra de Gredos is a Garnacha region that rivals the world’s great sites for this grape, these wines show high elevation elegance and detail, but with old vine concentration and amazing aromatics as well as length, as this one shows to near perfection. The Sierra de Gredos is blessed with its combination of high altitude, freely draining soils, a mild climate, cool nights and long growing season which adds to the elegant moderate alcohol style, sensual lifted aromatics and complex nature of these wines. I’ve been a fan of this region for a while now, following producers like 4 Monos and Comando G for the better part of of a dozen years now. This region has some stars, with Landi really leading the way with his own label and these incredible Comando G efforts, which I really highly recommend, they do take Grenache or Garnacha to another level.
($40 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive