Gredos, a new shining star on the Spanish wine horizon.
Gredos is an unusually fascinating wine region with enormous potential. very recently, at the beginning of the 21st century, this area has seen a huge leap in quality, thanks to pioneers such as Telmo Rodriguez and Daniel Ramos. They were followed by the likes of Daniel Landi and our very own Jesús 'Chuchi' Soto from Soto Manrique. We are more than happy to represent this unique part of wonderful wine country of Spain.
What is Gredos? And where is Gredos located?
Gredos -or Sierra de Gredos- is one of Spain's hotspots for fine wines from the Garnacha grape. The region is gaining popularity worldwide because of a very specific, elegant, fresh style of wines. Though it is not really possible to think one collective style, given the differences between the terroirs spread out like a patchwork.
Sierra de Gredos is a mountain range in central Spain. The area is spread over 3 provinces: the largest part in Ávila, the rest in Toledo and Madrid. Some mountain peaks reach a height of 2600m. The vineyards themselves are of course situated on a lower level, between 600 and 1200m, usually at the foot of higher mountain peaks. In those places, the climate is heavily influenced by the mountains, which means cooler temperatures and more rainfall. The pagos further from the higher mountains have warmer and drier conditions. All this makes it difficult to put a single label on Gredos wines.
Complicating matters even more, the region comprises 3 provinces, with as a result that the wines belong to several different appellations: Cebreros, a D.O.P., named after the central village. All Cebreros wines belong to Sierra de Gredos. Furthermore, there is the D.O.P. Mentrida, of which only a small part is located in Gredos. At the same time, there are also wines that belong to the much larger VdT (Vino de la Tierra) Castilla y León. And finally there is the region of Viños de Madrid, of which only the sub-zone San Martín de Valdeiglesas can be regarded as part of Gredos. The reasons for this division are partially political. No one is really happy about it, but for now, this is the situation.
What makes Gredos unique?
All in all, it concerns 2000 hectares of vineyard, so not really a huge wine region, on the contrary. It might sound contradictory, but in the end a historical lack of quality wines has led to the current boom. The price of the grapes was so low and the work so intensive that many vineyards were lost. What did remain was a small, remote wine region with 'en vaso' pruned vines of at least 50 years old. A winemaker's soul might think: interesting! In addition to that, the pagos are at a higher altitude and the bottom consists largely of granite and slate. That very same height also determines part of the character of the wines: at 600 to 700 meters the wines are rounder, fuller. The higher the vineyards are located, the more minerality and freshness prevail. At the same time, different microclimates provide additional variation. The work of the winemakers themselves also contributes to this wealth of differences.
Grape varieties
Gredos is getteing especially famous for its red wines of garnacha tinta. In white, albillo is the main variety.