2023 Comando G Sierra de Gredos - La Bruja

Daniel Jiménez-Landi and Fernando García met during their enology studies at the University of Madrid and created Comando G in 2008. Their shared passion is garnacha and its expression in the sandy-granite soils of the craggy Sierra de Gredos, west of Madrid. Their point of reference is the elegance of Burgundy rather than the power and saturation of modern Châteaneuf-du-Pape (and of many other Spanish garnachas). The name “Comando G” comes from a 1980s Spanish cartoon based on a Japanese anime series. The G also represents garnacha, Gredos, and granite.

'La Bruja' is their village wine, from several small plots around the town of Rozas de Puerto Real, 80 kilometers west of Madrid. The bush-trained vines sit at about 800 meters and average 60 years old. Farming is organic and biodynamic. Fermentation and maceration for 40-60 days was followed by aging for nine months in old oak vats.

The first striking thing about this wine is its light ruby color - lighter than many pinot noirs! But as always, don’t mistake light color for light flavor or light importance. The wine has crunchy red fruits, high acidity, moderate tannin, and a subtle medicinal tang. In California’s Sierra Nevada, granite lends both brightness and gravitas to the landscape, and there seems to be something analogous with wine grown in granite-rich terroir. It’s certainly in evidence in this wine. A Burgundy stem is ideal. Drink it with chicken, roasted or braised, or mushroom dishes.