Comando G Navatalgordo 2022
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Navatalgordo, a village red from the village of the same name, is one of two completely new village wines from 2022, as the one from Rozas is an evolution of the Rozas 1er Cru. This was produced to reflect the character of the village, showcasing wines with tension and sharpness. It comes from soils with lots of quartz and was made with their own grapes and ones purchased from growers that have been working together with them at an average 1,100 meters in altitude. It fermented with full clusters in concrete and oak vats with 35- to 40-day maceration, and its élevage was in concrete and oak foudres. This village produces wines with lower alcohol, lower pH and higher acidity, even in warmer years like 2022. And the wine has more color, even if the alcohol is lower, from the cold. It's a wine that needs more time, more Barolo with a chalky character and slow development. It has a very floral and expressive nose, with electric acidity, and is tense, serious. This is the 2022 that feels less like 2022... Only with time in the glass did it develop some meaty aromas (Bovril?) and spiciness, which pointed at a warmer year and more Gevrey character. It has a contained 13% alcohol and a pH of around 3.0! Incredible parameters for a year like 2022. 11,047 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2023. Only a little sulfur was added at bottling time, never before, as they feel the profile of the wine is more apt to work without added sulfur.
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 all range in age 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.
Each vineyard site, labeled as Vino de Parcela, are expressive of place. Tumba del Rey Moro, one of the newest sites, answers the question, what if Marcel Lapierre made Rayas? While Rumbo al Norte shows a more generous profile where the minerality is hidden by juicier fruit and greater tannin. Finally Las Umbrias shows incredible poise and balance weaving together florality, pure mineral, delicate fruit and mouth tingling tannin. Together these wines could aptly be called Grand Cru Garnacha.