Las Iruelas, Comando G

Bodega Comando G is made up of Fernando García, Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi and Marc Isart. They met in 2005 while at university where they forged their friendship based on a mutual passion: making first-rate Garnacha wines, which capture and express the terroir of the unique plots where the grapes are grown. Three years later, in 2008, they launched the Comando G (G for Garnacha) business venture. Although there are some who affectionately call them the ‘enochalados’ (‘crazy oenologists’), in reality, this ‘online cooperative bodega’ (as described by El Mundo Vino) is carrying out the very serious task of searching for old-vine vineyards planted with the Garnacha grape variety in the Sierra de Gredos, between the provinces of Madrid and Ávila.

Las Iruelas is one of Comando G’s most singular single vineyard Garnacha cuvées, sourced from a remote, forest surrounded parcel in the Valle de Iruelas near Cebreros in the Sierra de Gredos. The vineyard sits at very high altitude, typically above 1,100 metres, within a protected natural park where a cooler, more humid microclimate distinguishes it from the drier village sites around Rozas and Villanueva. The soils are extremely poor, composed of decomposed granite mixed with quartz and organic forest matter, resulting in very low yields and a distinctly refined, almost ethereal expression of Garnacha. The vines are old bush trained and cultivated entirely by hand on steep, fragmented slopes within a heavily wooded landscape. Fermentation is carried out with indigenous yeasts and a high proportion of whole clusters, enhancing aromatic lift and a finely detailed tannic frame. Ageing takes place in large oak foudres and concrete vats, preserving transparency and a sense of vertical purity. The wine shows a markedly cooler profile than the village wines, with redcurrant, wild strawberry and blood orange layered with alpine herbs, rose petals and crushed granite. The palate is precise and lifted, with silken but persistent tannins, vibrant acidity and a long, saline, mineral finish that reflects the forested altitude and unique microclimate of Las Iruelas.

Producer  Comando G

Origin Old Castile, Madrid, Spain

Grapes Garnacha

Vintage 2020/2022

Alcohol 13.5%

Style Medium body structured red

Bottle size 750ml

Winemaking Minimal intervention, whole clusters are used, followed by slow maceration of 60 days, fermented in open oak vats and aged for 18 months in used 500lt French oak barrels.

Notes Biodynamic, Organic, Natural