Comando G: The Art of Garnacha
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If you've spent any time around natural or small-grower wine over the past decade, the name Comando G won't be new to you, it rarely comes up quietly. If not, here's the short version: Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi and Fernando García founded the project in 2008, replanting and rescuing old, near-abandoned high-altitude Garnacha vineyards in the Sierra de Gredos, west of Madrid. The name itself is a small joke with a serious point: the “G” stands for Garnacha, Gredos and granite, with a nod to the team of heroes at the centre of the 1970s cartoon Battle of the Planets, known in Spain as “Comando G.” In under 20 years they've gone from reviving forgotten plots to being widely credited with putting the whole region on the fine wine map, drawing comparisons to Burgundy for the precision and site-specificity of their wines.
This July, one of the most destructive wildfires in Spain's recent history swept through Ávila province, burning more than 50,000 hectares. Comando G were fortunate. As the estate put it at the time, “If the wind had blown in the other direction, we would have lost everything.” It's a reminder of how fragile and irreplaceable these old, high-altitude vineyards really are, and it felt like the right moment to bring you a small selection of their wines.
Comando G's reputation has grown fast, and if you're new to the estate and want a feel for their style, 'La Bruja' is the place to start, their entry point, made in the same spirit as everything else they do.
What's available:
Comando G's most celebrated single-vineyard wine, from a tiny 0.3-hectare plot near Villanueva de Ávila. Old, north-facing Garnacha vines growing among huge granite boulders at over 1,000 metres, giving one of the most precise and sought-after expressions of mountain Garnacha anywhere. Sits above even the estate's own “Parcelas” tier.
Tumba del Rey Moro 2023 — £215
One of the estate's flagship single-vineyard wines, from pink granite soils in Villanueva, a site Comando G considers one of their most distinctive expressions of old-vine Garnacha.
The final vintage made of this wine under Comando G, from slate soils and vines dating back to the 1920s. The vineyard has since passed to a new project, so this is the last release carrying the Comando G name.
El Tamboril Blanco 2023 — £195
A white from Comando G, a blend of Garnacha Blanca and the rarer Garnacha Gris, from a small planting within the El Tamboril vineyard in Navatalgordo. Fine, saline and precise, with real minerality.
If you have any questions about these wines, get in touch, we're always happy to talk Comando G.
