Comando G Rumbo Al Norte 2022

A short distance away from Madrid, the rugged, weathered peaks of the Sierra de Gredos serve as a refreshingly cool retreat from the heat and bustle of the capital. Ancient hilltop towns and cottages dot the tortured landscape of alpine meadows, tumbled boulders, and thick scrub brush. Clustered around this rugged range are several DOs, most notably Mentrida and Viños de Madrid, best known for producing reliably inexpensive and simple country wines to slake the capital’s thirst.

Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia, friends since college, found themselves working in the area centered around the Sierra de Gredos: Daniel at his family’s estate, Bodegas Jimenez-Landi, and Fernando at Bodega Marañones. Drawn to the mountains and rumors of small, nearly inaccessible vineyard plots located high in the Sierra de Gredos, over time, they began purchasing and leasing the best sites they could find, creating their own project, Comando G in 2008. Along with the pioneers of the Priorat, Daniel and Fernando are redefining what was previously viewed as a workhorse variety, Garnacha, into something that can rival the elegance and finesse of Pinot in Burgundy or Syrah in the northern Rhône.

The vineyards that Daniel and Fernando have assembled are all farmed biodynamically. These vines range from 50 to 80 years old and are planted on sandy soils weathered from granite, slate, and quartz. A combination of high altitude, freely draining soils, and a mild and fairly humid micro-climate – for central Spain – guarantees a long growing season and a modest alcohol level in the finished wines. The resultant wines are startlingly pale, extraordinarily aromatic, and intensely flavorful.

Each site is harvested by hand, usually in October, fermented by indigenous yeasts in open-top French oak casks, then aged in a combination of 500-700L French oak barrels, foudre, and clay amphorae.

The most generous and arguably most profound of the single parcel wines, Rumbo al Norte comes from a 0.3-hectare plot of mixed Garnacha vines planted around gigantic boulders on sandy and silty mountain soils. This vineyard ripens late, well into October due to its elevation and a north-facing aspect. The fruit tends towards darker flavors with an altogether sweeter impression of the fruit wrapped around a spicy backbone.

"The 2022 Rumbo al Norte shows the regularity of this vineyard that cushions the effect of the warmer years nicely. It was a nice crop, the largest ever, which, like the other wines from this vintage, helped to provide balance and finesse in a year when the summer saw heat waves and warm nights. The altitude, over 1,000 meters, and the north-facing exposition helped too. The tannins feel quite polished, especially when compared with the 2022 Rey Moro; it's gentler, and the wine is silky and round, a rare feature that year. It will gain finesse with time in bottle, as warmer years need more time in bottle. This was also given an extra year of aging in concrete after the time in foudre. 1,743 bottles were filled in February 2025." - 98 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate