The Sierra de Gredos is a rugged region of craggy granite peaks, old forests, and ancient hilltop towns. Southeast of Madrid, the vineyard sites are high altitude with well-draining granitic soils and a long growing season due to the cold nights. Ancient garnacha vines cling to the scree slopes. Vitícola Mentridana is a project coming from Dani Landi’s (of Comando G fame) personal vineyards. After focusing solely on Comando G, Landi left his own vineyards in the hands of Curro Barreño, one of his oldest friends. Curro Barreño is a native of Méntrida and is devoted to revealing the beauty of the region’s terroir. We had the pleasure of tasting wines with him at his vineyards and he was dynamic, excited, kind, and warm hearted. He interprets the vineyards of old garnacha in much the same way that Dani might himself, farming with minimal intervention and making wines of great deftness and grace. These are wines that the heart shines through from.

Cantos del Diablo is the top site of Vitícola Mentridana in the Tiétar Valley. 70-year-old garnacha vines from a tiny plot with a perfect combination of exposure and climate result in naturally restricted yields. The vines produce late-ripening grapes that burst with ethereal complexity and energy. The soils are sandy and granitic at 900 meters and north-facing. It is the highest vineyard in the Méntrida appellation. The grapes are hand-picked and fermented in used oak vats with a 75-day maceration with whole-clusters, followed by a year’s elevage in 500 liter oak barrels. This wine bursts with ripe black cherries, black plums, currants, and mediterranean herbs. There is a ribbing of white chalk that structures the wine along with ethereal spices. For lovers of Jacques Reynaud’s grenache! We are the only place in the country to offer magnums of this wine and they are ideal for putting on the bottom shelf of your cellar to allow a little time to run through them.