2020 Comando G "El Tamboril Tinto", Castilla y León, Spain

ABOUT THIS WINE

2016 marks the first vintage of El Tamboril Tinto from 70+-year-old vines of Garnacha located on a north-facing slope of pure granitic soils. Due to its elevation, El Tamboril is usually harvested well into October yet still struggles to reach a modest 12.5% alc/vol. The age of the vines, their elevation, and the size of this parcel of Garnacha, just a scant half hectare, means that this will always be a limited cuvée in even the most clement vintages.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia, friends since college, found themselves working in the area centered around the Sierra de Gredos: Daniel at his family’s estate, Bodegas Jimenez-Landi, and Fernando at Bodega Marañones. Drawn to the mountains and rumors of small, nearly inaccessible vineyard plots located high in the Sierra de Gredos, over time, they began purchasing and leasing the best sites they could find, creating their own project, Comando G in 2008. Along with the pioneers of the Priorat, Daniel and Fernando are redefining what was previously viewed as a workhorse variety, Garnacha, into something that can rival the elegance and finesse of Pinot in Burgundy or Syrah in the northern Rhône.

The vineyards that Daniel and Fernando have assembled are all farmed biodynamically. These vines range from 50 to 80 years old and are planted on sandy soils weathered from granite, slate, and quartz. A combination of high altitude, freely draining soils, and a mild and fairly humid micro-climate – for central Spain – guarantees a long growing season and a modest alcohol level in the finished wines. The resultant wines are startlingly pale, extraordinarily aromatic, and intensely flavorful. Each site is harvested by hand, usually in October, fermented by indigenous yeasts in open-top French oak casks, then aged in a combination of 500-700L French oak barrels, foudre, and clay amphorae.