With love from Gredos - chatting to Ruth

𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑠 (or Cebreros, as the DO name) is one of the most beautiful landscapes in Spain. The high mountain with 1000m altitude but Mediterranean climate… this is very odd and unique. The granite rocks outcropping here and there are really impressive. And our vineyards are at the highest point of the appellation, facing north, which is so good for the Garnacha grape.

𝐴𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑦𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠: there are no young vines. Not even “adult” vines. Just very old vines. Because for many years, nobody cared about the region and just a few winegrowers worked professionally. Many small producers work just on the weekends, as a way to earn some extra money. This means an incredible patrimony of old vines.

Because we respect this terroir and the old vines so much, our 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 is very respectful. Minimalist, we like to say. We don’t add anything. We don’t use make-up. It is not necessary. Native yeast, concrete tanks, no lactic bacteria (so malolactic takes place usually in spring, as temperatures increase), no fining agents… so the result is a very pure Garnacha, fresh and vibrant showing the character of mountain climate and granite soil.

Then there is the ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟, of course. Ana and I feel very proud of this wine. When we arrived in Gredos, there was no appellation. So our first wine was Wine of Spain (Vino de Espana). The medium age of our winegrowers was 80 years old. True! We worked very hard with them and the incredible help of a young man, David, who also took care of the project with the same passion and enthusiasm as Ana and I. He helped enormously to create Garganta (as more than an idea in our minds) but above all to convince these old winegrowers that they had incredible grapes and that we can do astonishing wines with them. Now, we are so happy that they feel very proud of it and some of their sons are joining them in the vineyards and engaging with the winery once again.”

𝙍𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨, winemaker