Comando G 'Navatalgordo' Tinto 2022

In the early days of their Comando G project, Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi and Fernando García made an annual pilgrimage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Sleeping in a van in the fields by Château Rayas, they would wander the vineyards and contemplate the wine made there - the world’s greatest Grenache. By the time they were allowed out of the van and into the winery, Comando G had become one of Spain’s most thrilling new-wave wine projects, sparking a Garnacha revival and inspiring a cult following that continues to grow.

Comando G’s vineyards are in the Gredos Mountains, west of Madrid. Here, largely abandoned bush vines grow among fig and olive trees at high altitude. With big day-to-night temperature swings ripening intense, well-balanced fruit, it’s the perfect spot for two winemakers taking Château Rayas as their lodestar. Farming is biodynamic and fermentation takes place in open-top casks with wild yeasts. The range is organised along Burgundian lines, with ‘village’ wines rising to superior, single vineyard bottlings with their own characters.

Intense, yet ethereal, Comando G’s Garnachas have a top Pinot Noir-like elegance. In just a few years, they have risen to Spanish royalty, alongside Vega Sicilia et al.

Navatalgordo is one of three village wines, this one from northern Gredos.