Being a bit of an architecture nerd as well as the wine sort, I do tend to notice the way older buildings made from the local stone seem to affect the mood of a city. Melbourne and its dark bluestone can make grey winter days a little sombre. Paris and its limestone, well. Madrid is a city of light grey granite and its best red wine comes from the same rocks in the surrounding mountains. Whether it’s the stark ground or the brisk altitude, or probably both, that produce such lightly mouthwatering wine, it’s certainly a very different expression compared to Aragon or Maclaren Vale. It’s an area only rediscovered in the last couple of decades and being so close to the capital seems to have attracted those interested in the natural with minimal intervention, for better or worse. I must admit to finding some versions just a bit too feral or variable from bottle to bottle. Comando G bottles have been particularly unpredictable, sometimes not in a good way. Finding this bottle in what at first glance was an uninspiring Madrid wine shop for €10, it looked worth a punt. On closer browsing, there were some good bottles amongst the utilitarian shelves and well priced beers. When I got back to our Madrid cupboard sized apartment, a closer look at the back label indicated a Comando G link, oh well. Indeed it did open with a little bit of that yeasty, slightly cidery, low sulphur, natty wine fug. A bit of reduction too. Happily oxygen worked its spell and a very bright red fruited wine emerged. Full of mouthwatering cherries, cooked strawberries, a touch of fennel, orange peel and a haze of sun warmed rocks. Great cut of fine acidity and tannin. The sort of perfume and refreshment that good Bourgogne rouge used to have before changes in its climate, both weather and financial. Still a bit close to the technical edge like some of those delicious old school Burgundies but we hit the bottom of the bottle pretty quickly.
14% alcohol. Diam I think? €10 which looks good considering the lottery of entry level Comando G is now over $70 in Australia now.
93 points.
Cognitive Bottle Therapy 