A short drive from Madrid among the craggy granite peaks of the Sierra de Gredos, Fernando García and Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi are making some of the most exciting garnacha in the world today. Their wines are bottled under the name Comando G and come from a number of old-vine, high-altitude vineyards nestled among rockfalls and stone amphitheaters that Fernando and Daniel uncovered mostly by drinking beer in the local taverns and listening to the stories of the farmers. They are known in many taverns as the encholados or “crazy oenologists.” The farmers have been keeping alive the ancient-vine garnachas through a pure devotion though for many years there work wasn’t particularly remunerative. Many are glad to have caring hands to pass the vineyards on to. Comando G farms biodynamically but they adapt their practices to each vineyard, usually inspired by the way the vineyards were cared for by the old hands who preceded them. The winemakers take stylistic inspiration from the most famous grenache in the world, Château Rayas, renowned for wines of astonishing power, delicacy, and grace.

El Tamboril is from 70-year-old garnacha vines at 1,230 meters on sandy granite that faces the north. Because of its elevation, El Tamboril is often the last vineyard to be harvested, often well into October, and its alcohol levels are always modest. The age of the vines and the fact that the vineyard is .5 hectares means the bottlings are always limited. This is a tremendous wine that often benefits from patience. Hand-harvested and fermented in concrete and oak vats where they worked to keep extraction light. The wine matures in 1,000 liter foudres. This wine has a powerful and wild elegance. Windswept strawberries and raspberries and zests of grapefruit met with spices and lavender fields and a pillar of granite that the flavors revolve around.