Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Garnacha Navatalgordo, from an old vineyard in the village of Navatalgordo, Gredos, is still in élevage. It reveals fresher aromas of cherry, sour cherry, an herbal hint and soft rose. Stem inclusion tightens the gums, though it will soften with time in bottle. A delicate note of fresh sour cherry lingers on the finish. Barrel Sample: 95-97
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The village 2023 Navatalgordo has grapes (mostly purchased from regular suppliers) from five different parajes or lieu-dits from the stony and quartz soils from the village. It has a stony personality but a perfumed nose of violets and violet pastille, with silty tannins and good grip. It matured in oak vats to polish those village tannins. It's very complete and opens up in the glass nicely, as it's a little more austere than the one from Villanueva. This is the more tannic of the village reds.
Rating: 95+ -
James Suckling
A brambly and open expression from Comando G, with scented, ethereal smoke, agave, white pepper and bergamot. If you enjoy drinking mezcal, then you’ll probably find some similarities here. On the palate, this is a round and fruity, with an abundance of chalky tannins, even though fruitiness is not part of its nature. A structured red from Navatalgordo.
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.