Comando G

Just an hour from the capital city of Madrid, in the foothills of the rugged Sierra de Gredos mountain range, two friends and vignerons are reimagining what it means to produce Spanish Garnacha. Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia, both from respected winemaking families, combined forces and began seeking out vineyards in the remote, barely accessible sites of the Gredos mountain range. The outcome: Grenaches with beautiful fruit concentration, rich texture, and balance of alcohol and acidity. At their best, these wines can evoke comparisons with the best Grenaches of Southern Rhone (dare I say, Rayas?) and bring out the perfect combination of fruit, spice, savory, earthy, and mineral quality for incredible depth.

Daniel was born into a winemaking family but had higher aspirations, literally and figuratively: he and his school friend Fernando sought out some of the most extreme vineyards in the Sierra de Gredos mountain ranges, old, wrought vines that could showcase the true potential of Garnacha and change the world's view of the grape as it stood in Spain. 

While Grenache is widely known to us in the states, you could probably count on one hand the producers known to make transcendent examples; those are the very producers who Daniel and Fernando drank for inspiration, for a guide to what they wanted. Beyond that, they focused on other wines from France and Italy that showcased their origins with impeccable class, hoping to unlock that thought of "terroir" in their homeland. 

In the high-altitude, thin-soiled, old-vine plots the duo have staked their name on, the air is cooler, and the sandy, granite-based soils provide a freshness to the wines unseen in examples from vineyards in the valleys beneath. There is density, sure, and great complexity, but the airy essence of the final juice heightens all of its other facets, allowing us to see Garnacha as it was intended to be seen, smelled and drunk.