Sierra de Gredos & Madrid

San Martín de Valdeiglesias: pale, floral Garnacha from granite slopes, Madrid's best-known red.

The Gredos side of Vinos de Madrid. Old Garnacha on sandy granite gives pale, perfumed, light-footed reds with red fruit, spice and a stony finish, a long way from the heavy Garnacha of the plains.

The Gredos side of Vinos de Madrid. Old Garnacha on sandy granite gives pale, perfumed, light-footed reds with red fruit, spice and a stony finish, a long way from the heavy Garnacha of the plains.

Garnacha: here pale, floral and fresh, not heavy.

Grown on old bush vines at altitude on granite, it gives red cherry, herbs and a stony finish at modest alcohol. On the lower plains it is riper and rounder.

Grown on old bush vines at altitude on granite, it gives red cherry, herbs and a stony finish at modest alcohol. On the lower plains it is riper and rounder.

Cocido madrileño with a village-level Gredos Garnacha.

Madrid's winter chickpea stew arrives in courses: broth first, then chickpeas and vegetables, then pork, sausage and beef. A fresh, low-tannin red with good acidity keeps the fat from feeling heavy.

Madrid's winter chickpea stew arrives in courses: broth first, then chickpeas and vegetables, then pork, sausage and beef. A fresh, low-tannin red with good acidity keeps the fat from feeling heavy.

Cebreros: Ávila's high Garnacha villages, home of Comando G and Pegaso.

A small appellation in the Ávila foothills of the Gredos, where old Garnacha survives on granite and slate, in places above 1,000 metres. Wine has been grown here since the Middle Ages. Reds are fresh and aromatic; some whites are made too.

A small appellation in the Ávila foothills of the Gredos, where old Garnacha survives on granite and slate, in places above 1,000 metres. Wine has been grown here since the Middle Ages. Reds are fresh and aromatic; some whites are made too.

Roast lamb with a single-site Gredos Garnacha.

A classic Castilian centrepiece. A more concentrated, structured Garnacha has the freshness to cut the fat and the depth to match the meat.

A classic Castilian centrepiece. A more concentrated, structured Garnacha has the freshness to cut the fat and the depth to match the meat.

Albillo Real: Madrid's historic white, soft and creamy with moderate acidity.

Albillo Real is the indigenous white Madrid recommends, alongside Malvar. Whites here are smooth and fruity with a creamy texture rather than sharp acidity, and a few Gredos growers now bottle Albillo as a serious wine.

Albillo Real is the indigenous white Madrid recommends, alongside Malvar. Whites here are smooth and fruity with a creamy texture rather than sharp acidity, and a few Gredos growers now bottle Albillo as a serious wine.

Albillo Real: Madrid's soft, creamy native white.

A local grape with gentle perfume and a smooth, round feel. Easy to drink and good with food, and increasingly bottled alone by Gredos growers.

A local grape with gentle perfume and a smooth, round feel. Easy to drink and good with food, and increasingly bottled alone by Gredos growers.

The other colour: Marañones Albillo.

A soft, creamy Madrid white that most friends at home will not have tasted.

A soft, creamy Madrid white that most friends at home will not have tasted.

Méntrida: warm plains and foothills of north-east Toledo; Garnacha for everyday drinking.

Madrid's long-time wine supplier, mostly Garnacha from low bush vines at 400 to 600 metres. Wines are warmer and riper than in the mountains; most are straightforward, with a few estates showing what the area can do.

Madrid's long-time wine supplier, mostly Garnacha from low bush vines at 400 to 600 metres. Wines are warmer and riper than in the mountains; most are straightforward, with a few estates showing what the area can do.

Fifty- to eighty-year-old bush vines give small crops and depth.

Many of the best parcels are old vines trained as free-standing bushes (vaso), planted long before the region had a reputation. Deep roots and small crops give concentration without heaviness, and most of these plots are tiny and picked by hand.

Many of the best parcels are old vines trained as free-standing bushes (vaso), planted long before the region had a reputation. Deep roots and small crops give concentration without heaviness, and most of these plots are tiny and picked by hand.

Cebreros classic: Pegaso Viñas Viejas from Telmo Rodríguez.

Old-vine Cebreros Garnacha from a respected old-vineyard specialist, a good bridge between value and top-end.

Old-vine Cebreros Garnacha from a respected old-vineyard specialist, a good bridge between value and top-end.

Celebration: a Comando G single site such as La Bruja or Las Umbrías.

The region's top bottles: small production, pale and perfumed, and hard to find abroad.

The region's top bottles: small production, pale and perfumed, and hard to find abroad.

Native yeasts and long stem contact build texture without oak.

Spontaneous fermentation in open-top vats and long maceration with stems adds perfume and grip without making the wine heavy.

Spontaneous fermentation in open-top vats and long maceration with stems adds perfume and grip without making the wine heavy.

Skin-contact white: Jiménez-Landi's Vino Naranja.

An orange wine from the Méntrida estate, one of its experimental 'singular' bottlings. Expect grip and a savoury, nutty edge.

An orange wine from the Méntrida estate, one of its experimental 'singular' bottlings. Expect grip and a savoury, nutty edge.

Jiménez-Landi Blanco Malvar: Malvar as a varietal white.

The estate bottles Malvar alone in its 'singular' collection, next to an orange wine and a natural wine.

The estate bottles Malvar alone in its 'singular' collection, next to an orange wine and a natural wine.

Off the beaten path: Jiménez-Landi's Vino Naranja or Natural.

Small 'singular' bottlings from an organic estate: an orange wine and a natural wine, a talking point at the table.

Small 'singular' bottlings from an organic estate: an orange wine and a natural wine, a talking point at the table.

Marañones: old-vine Garnacha from granite above 800 metres in San Martín.

A San Martín de Valdeiglesias estate with plots from about 650 to 850 metres. Its Marañones bottling is Garnacha from 50- to 70-year-old bush vines, which the estate labels as a single-site wine.

Marañones works plots in the Gredos at roughly 650 to 850 metres, within the Vinos de Madrid DO. Its Marañones bottling is Garnacha from 50- to 70-year-old vines trained as bushes, grown on sandy soils over granite above 800 metres. It is fermented with native yeast, left on the stems for a long maceration and aged over a year on its lees in foudres, oak and concrete, and the estate describes the result as mineral, fresh and elegant, with texture and length. The range then branches into more specific wines - Peña Caballera, Picarana, Peña Cruzada, Picuenco, 30.000 Maravedíes, Pies Descalzos - plus an Albillo. Comando G co-founder Fernando García worked here before founding it. Start with the Marañones, then add one named wine to see how a single plot changes the picture.

Telmo Rodríguez: first Cebreros vineyard in 1999; Pegaso Viñas Viejas is the Garnacha.

The Spanish old-vineyard specialist behind Pegaso bought its first Cebreros vineyard in 1999 and restored the old La Piñonera winery there in 2005.

Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza founded their company in 1994, inspired by the terraces and old blended vineyards they found around Spain, and the idea is to restore abandoned vineyards and replant original varieties rather than impose a style. In 1999 they bought their first vineyard in Cebreros, a remote village where old Garnacha vines had survived above 1,000 metres. A slate vein called Arrebatacapas, the only one in the Gredos, suggested the site could make a great wine. In 2005 they restored the old La Piñonera winery in the village and returned to fermenting the Garnachas from Pegaso's old vineyards there. The Pegaso Viñas Viejas line is the one to look for. The company works across several Spanish regions, so Cebreros is one chapter of a wider old-vine project.

Comando G: Dani Landi and Fernando García's biodynamic Garnacha project in the Gredos.

Friends since childhood, the two founded it in 2008 after working at Jiménez-Landi and Marañones. Vines are 50 to 80 years old, farmed biodynamically and picked by hand, and the wines are bottled by village and by site.

Comando G started in 2008 when Dani Landi and Fernando García, friends since childhood, returned to the Gredos after training at Dani's family estate Jiménez-Landi and at Marañones. The core is in Cebreros, around Rozas, Navatalgordo, Villanueva and El Tiemblo, on vines 50 to 80 years old rooted in sandy soils from granite, slate and quartz. Farming is biodynamic and manual, and each site is hand-harvested. The wines are pale, aromatic and low in alcohol, leaning to red fruit and minerality. The stated ambition is to lift Garnacha from workhorse to a grape that can rival Burgundy Pinot Noir or northern Rhône Syrah. Buy a village wine (Villanueva or Navatalgordo) first, then a single site such as La Bruja or Las Umbrías.

Comando G single sites: La Bruja, Las Umbrías and Tumba del Rey Moro.

The top of the producer's ladder: each plot is bottled separately and meant to show its own place.

Comando G bottles several single plots separately - La Bruja, Las Umbrías, El Tamboril, Las Iruelas, Tumba del Rey Moro and Rumbo al Norte - and each is intended to show the character of its own site rather than a house recipe. The vines are 50 to 80 years old on sandy granite, slate and quartz soils, farmed biodynamically and hand-harvested, and the wines are fermented spontaneously in open-top French oak casks and aged in concrete, foudre, demi-muid or amphora depending on the site. The style is pale, aromatic and energetic, with red fruit and minerality, not a big expansive Garnacha. The sensible way to explore is to buy a village wine as a reference, then one single site, and notice that the difference is in texture and length rather than power.

Comando G labels by village, premier area and single site, Burgundy style.

At the base are village wines, above them wines labelled 1er, and at the top single sites. It is the producer's own ladder, not an official classification.

Comando G organises its wines the way Burgundy does, by place rather than by oak or aging time. At the base are village wines from Villanueva and Navatalgordo, then wines labelled 1er from named areas - Rozas 1er, La Breña 1er, Peña La Mora 1er - and at the top single sites such as La Bruja, Las Umbrías, El Tamboril, Las Iruelas, Tumba del Rey Moro and Rumbo al Norte. Rozas, Navatalgordo, Villanueva and El Tiemblo are the four villages at the heart of the project. The ladder is the producer's own, not an official classification, and other growers use different words: Marañones, for example, calls its estate wine a vino de paraje. The practical use is simple. Start with a village wine, then taste one single site to see what the plot adds, and expect the differences to show in texture, spice and minerality rather than power.

Jiménez-Landi: organic since 1963; core range plus natural, orange and Malvar bottlings.

A family estate that also trained Comando G's co-founder. Its core range includes El Corralón, Sotorrondero, Piélago and Ataulfos.

Jiménez-Landi describes itself as organic since 1963, with vineyards that have nine centuries of history behind them, limited production and artisanal methods. It is the family estate of Daniel (Dani) Landi, who later co-founded Comando G, which makes it a useful way to compare the plains-and-foothills style of Méntrida with the higher Gredos wines. The core range is El Corralón, Sotorrondero, Piélago and Ataulfos. A separate 'singular' collection shows an experimental side: a Natural, a Vino Naranja (orange wine), a Blanco Malvar and a Clarete. For a first visit to Méntrida, buy one of the core reds and one singular bottle, and compare them with a Gredos village wine. The producer's own site does not state the village, so confirm the winery location before planning a visit.

Native yeasts, long stem contact and large neutral vessels shape the pale style.

Top growers ferment with native yeasts and age in concrete, large old oak or amphora, so oak flavour stays out of the way.

The paleness and perfume of the best Gredos Garnacha is partly a winemaking choice. Comando G ferments spontaneously in open-top French oak casks and then ages each site in the vessel that suits it - concrete, foudre, demi-muid or amphora. At Marañones the Garnacha ferments with native yeast in French oak and steel, with a long maceration on the stems, and then spends over a year on its lees in foudres, oak and concrete before bottling. The aim, as the growers describe it, is texture and length rather than oak flavour: wines that are mineral, fresh and elegant, with modest alcohol. When comparing producers, ask what the wine was aged in. Large old or neutral vessels point to the pale, perfumed style; small new barrels usually mean a darker, more international red.

High, cool granite slopes keep Garnacha fresh and pale.

Vineyards sit high in the Gredos foothills, from around 500 metres at the edges to well over 800 in the best places, on sandy soils broken down from granite, slate and quartz. Cool nights and free-draining ground slow ripening, so the grape keeps the freshness and perfume it loses on hot plains.

Vineyards sit high in the Gredos foothills, from around 500 metres at the edges to well over 800 in the best places, on sandy soils broken down from granite, slate and quartz. Cool nights and free-draining ground slow ripening, so the grape keeps the freshness and perfume it loses on hot plains.

In the glass: Fresher, paler, more floral Garnacha with a stony finish

Fifty- to eighty-year-old bush vines give small crops and depth.

Many of the best parcels are old vines trained as free-standing bushes (vaso), planted long before the region had a reputation. Deep roots and small crops give concentration without heaviness, and most of these plots are tiny and picked by hand.

Many of the best parcels are old vines trained as free-standing bushes (vaso), planted long before the region had a reputation. Deep roots and small crops give concentration without heaviness, and most of these plots are tiny and picked by hand.

In the glass: Depth and length without extra weight or heavy oak

Cooler, wetter San Martín versus warmer plains: same grape, different weight.

San Martín de Valdeiglesias is the coolest and wettest part of Madrid's appellation, so its Garnacha stays fresher and lighter. The lower plains of Méntrida and eastern Madrid are warmer and drier and give riper, rounder, more everyday reds. Altitude on a given slope matters as much as the zone name.

San Martín de Valdeiglesias is the coolest and wettest part of Madrid's appellation, so its Garnacha stays fresher and lighter. The lower plains of Méntrida and eastern Madrid are warmer and drier and give riper, rounder, more everyday reds. Altitude on a given slope matters as much as the zone name.

In the glass: Mountain sites: pale, perfumed, savoury. Plains: riper, rounder, softer

Native yeasts, long stem contact and large neutral vessels shape the pale style.

Top growers ferment with native yeasts and age in concrete, large old oak or amphora, so oak flavour stays out of the way.

The paleness and perfume of the best Gredos Garnacha is partly a winemaking choice. Comando G ferments spontaneously in open-top French oak casks and then ages each site in the vessel that suits it - concrete, foudre, demi-muid or amphora. At Marañones the Garnacha ferments with native yeast in French oak and steel, with a long maceration on the stems, and then spends over a year on its lees in foudres, oak and concrete before bottling. The aim, as the growers describe it, is texture and length rather than oak flavour: wines that are mineral, fresh and elegant, with modest alcohol. When comparing producers, ask what the wine was aged in. Large old or neutral vessels point to the pale, perfumed style; small new barrels usually mean a darker, more international red.

In the glass: Pale colour, floral perfume, fine tannin and a long, mineral finish

Organic and biodynamic farming is common among the top growers.

Comando G farms biodynamically and by hand; Jiménez-Landi has been organic since 1963. The dry, windy mountain climate helps keep vines healthy.

Comando G farms biodynamically and by hand; Jiménez-Landi has been organic since 1963. The dry, windy mountain climate helps keep vines healthy.

In the glass: Cleaner, more transparent fruit and a sense of place

Native yeasts and long stem contact build texture without oak.

Spontaneous fermentation in open-top vats and long maceration with stems adds perfume and grip without making the wine heavy.

Spontaneous fermentation in open-top vats and long maceration with stems adds perfume and grip without making the wine heavy.

In the glass: Perfume, texture and fine tannin; less obvious fruit and oak

Ageing in large old vessels keeps the wines pale and fresh.

Foudres, concrete, demi-muids and amphorae let the wine breathe without adding oak flavour. The choice of vessel often follows the site.

Foudres, concrete, demi-muids and amphorae let the wine breathe without adding oak flavour. The choice of vessel often follows the site.

In the glass: Pale colour, fresh fruit, savoury finish

Skin-contact white: Jiménez-Landi's Vino Naranja.

An orange wine from the Méntrida estate, one of its experimental 'singular' bottlings. Expect grip and a savoury, nutty edge.

An orange wine from the Méntrida estate, one of its experimental 'singular' bottlings. Expect grip and a savoury, nutty edge.

In the glass: Grip, amber colour and savoury character