All of these conditions are essential for making an elegant wine that often confuses even the most knowledgeable experts with its freshness, making it difficult to place. Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi explained why: “The siliceous components give wines a certain freshness, a major stumbling block for Spanish wines, in particular those coming from warm regions. Altitude is my weapon against this region’s latitude. In the Sierra de San Vicente there is a huge temperature difference between day and night, which is essential to the ripening cycle, because it slows it down. I can truly say that my Garnacha grapes have ripened in slow motion. What’s more, I enjoy working with this variety. Although it is one of the most unrewarding, it’s the one I most value because if handled well it can yield some excellent wines”. Jay Miller seems to be of the same opinion, as in the latest edition of The Wine Advocate he rated ‘Sotorrondero’ with 91 points and ‘Piélago’ with 94 points.

However, Daniel believes that ‘Piélago’, of which 7,000 bottles from the 2006 vintage are currently on the market, is more difficult to read, more complicated. “I’m more focused on Garnacha, with this variety I can carry out the whole process in an artisanal way, we even tread the grape, and I love it when people tell me that they like ‘Sotorrondero’ more then ‘Piélago. After all, it’s the driving force behind our bodega and one wine complements the other”, he states.

Another detail closely observed by this oenologist is the wine’s ageing process. Both age 8 months in French oak. ‘Sotorrondero’ in 300 and 500 litre barrels, and ‘Piélago’ in 500 litres barrels and 1,500 litre vats. “I don’t use the 225 litre Bordeaux barrel because I’m interested in a more reduced ageing process, with less micro-oxygenation, in which the wine has less contact with the wood so as to protect its varietal and mineral aromas”, Daniel explains.

As to the future, the oenologist is working towards launching a wine on the market from one of the plots in Real de San Vicente. “Since the beginning all the plots have been treated separately, but I want to get to know all of them well so that I can choose one that offers continuity”, he admitted.

Additionally, Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi, although focused primarily on working with Garnacha in the Sierra de Gredos, is involved in various projects in adjacent regions, such as DO Vinos de Madrid, where he is working with two colleagues and friends in the municipality of Cenicientos as well as making a Vino de la Tierra de Castilla from Cebreros, a small village in Ávila. All of these projects entail working with low-yield plots located at an average altitude of around 800 metres.

Bodegas Jiménez-Landi sells more than half of its produce on foreign markets, its main customers being the US and Germany, although its wines are also present in Japan, Puerto Rico, Belgium and Norway.