Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Navatalgordo, a village red from the village of the same name, is one of two completely new village wines from 2022, as the one from Rozas is an evolution of the Rozas 1er Cru. This was produced to reflect the character of the village, showcasing wines with tension and sharpness. It comes from soils with lots of quartz and was made with their own grapes and ones purchased from growers that have been working together with them at an average 1,100 meters in altitude. It fermented with full clusters in concrete and oak vats with 35- to 40-day maceration, and its élevage was in concrete and oak foudres. This village produces wines with lower alcohol, lower pH and higher acidity, even in warmer years like 2022. And the wine has more color, even if the alcohol is lower, from the cold. It's a wine that needs more time, more Barolo with a chalky character and slow development. It has a very floral and expressive nose, with electric acidity, and is tense, serious. This is the 2022 that feels less like 2022... Only with time in the glass did it develop some meaty aromas (Bovril?) and spiciness, which pointed at a warmer year and more Gevrey character. It has a contained 13% alcohol and a pH of around 3.0! Incredible parameters for a year like 2022. 11,047 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2023. Only a little sulfur was added at bottling time, never before, as they feel the profile of the wine is more apt to work without added sulfur.
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Vinous
The 2022 Navatalgordo is 100% Garnacha from the Sierra de Gredos. The nose unfolds delicate and floral layers of black cherry with herbal notes. The palate reveals fine, reactive tannins in an austere frame that recalls Barolo. Compact and taut with an herbal lift, this has higher acidity than the rest of the range. At 13% alcohol, it offers a fresh approach to a warm vintage.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Sitting just north of La Mancha, Spain’s (and Europe’s, for that matter) largest classified wine region, this region is much smaller than the vast La Mancha. However, Vinos de Madrid DO is a relatively large region in and of itself, with four subregions that start about 9 miles from the city center. Three of the subregions form a semicircle around the southern suburbs, Arganda, Navalcarnero and San Martín, where styles vary from one to another. El Molar, situated directly north of the city, is the newly created 4th subregion.
Since Vinos de Madrid was granted DO status in 1990, it has immersed itself in local wine production. Since then, substantial efforts have been made to raise quality and knowledge of the wines produced here. Millions of tourists who visit Spain’s capital city each year help the wines gain recognition and popularity across the globe. The growing investment through the years has paid off and export markets are increasingly interested in Vinos de Madrid wines.
While Tempranillo is the most planted grape variety in the Arganda subregion in the southeast, Garnacha is the dominant grape in all other subregions, including El Molar in the north, Navalcarnero in the south, and especially San Martín de Valdeiglesias in the west.