2016 Comando G La Bruja de Rozas- Spain, Madrid, Vinos de Madrid (1/24/2019)
Lighter than even any pinot noir I’ve seen and more transparent than translucent. The nose, right after the original decant, was interesting: cherry pie, with cinnamon, orange zest, and juniper. The taste was less interesting with just reddish fruit and a more than healthy amount of brett/barnyard off notes. Shorter finish.
On day two everything was pronouncedly less interesting but the off notes had dissipated. This is not for the cellar. (86 pts.)
I had the 2015 of the same wine almost exactly a year ago. It’s quite obvious I was much more impressed by the wine:
2015 Comando G La Bruja de Rozas- Spain, Madrid, Vinos de Madrid (9.2.2018)
A Garnacha from biodynamically farmed old vineyards (+50 yo) planted on granitic soil. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top fermenters, macerated for 40-60 days. Aged for 9 months in 3000-6000 liter oak vats. 14,5% alcohol. Tasted blind.
Luminous, translucent ruby color. Very open, expressive and complex nose with nuanced aromas of chinotto zest (aka. Campari), crunchy cranberries, some bretty funk, a little bit of perfumed floral character and a hint of sweet red cherry. I am instantly thinking of a naturalist Loire Gamay or Pinot Noir or perhaps a Jura Poulsard at this point. The wine is light-to-medium-bodied, crunchy and even somewhat crisp on the palate with high acidity and bright, juicy and rather savory flavors of sour cherries, cranberries, some wild strawberries, a little bit of bitterness, a hint of balsamic VA and a touch of leathery funk. Otherwise I’d still think of something from Loire or Jura, but the wine is actually surprisingly extracted and chewy with moderately firm and grippy tannins, which hint for something completely different. The finish is lively, wild and grippy with quite long and savory flavors of tart cranberries, crunchy raspberries, some aromatic Campari flavors, a little bit of wild strawberries and a hint of sour cherry bitterness. The high alcohol lends a slightly warming touch to the aftertaste.
A brilliantly vibrant, crunchy and lively little red that reminds me a lot of the natural wines of Loire and Jura, but on the palate the wine shows much more extraction, tannins and alcohol than these French examples. That’s why it was very, very hard to guess the region and the variety correctly. However, after the label was revealed, it all made much more sense, having tasted some red wines by Comando G and Bodegas Marañones before. This is a very lovely, bright and tasty wine with firm character and quite noticeable - yet not overwhelming - funky character that puts this wine quite firmly in the natural wine department. Although people who dislike natural wines might find this wine a bit extreme, I found this fellow pretty irresistible. Highly recommended. (93 pts.)
I’m skeptical, at least of this vintage. There are certainly some wine faults of brett and VA happening and it really didn’t hold up to the next day. Maybe his higher end stuff? I’d say this has a 35% chance of being vinegar in 8 years and an even greater chance of being less interesting.
The nose was great on the first day and if that continued through to the taste, it didn’t have noticeable wine faults (which you also mention–but as a feature), had a longer finish, and held up, I would’ve given it a similar score. I have one more bottle so hopefully I’m wrong or this was an off bottle.
Josh - different strokes for different folks! I think my view is much more aligned with Otto’s - I find these wines to be complex and funky and delicious though needing time to flesh out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them age well like an old-school CdP.
Reviving this thread, as I just cracked a bottle of this last night. OP must have got an off bottle–no brett, and a really wonderful quaff, especially for the price point. In truth, I often don’ like Grenache, but this was light on its feet balanced, at succulent, refreshing, but, to my palate, not simple. It showed a arkedly juicy core of sweet red fruit, almost pomegranite, rgood acidity, garrigue, ham/bacon (especially on the nose) along with marked minerality, talc/slate on surprisingly long finish. Could drink all day, goes great with food–just ordered some more.
the bottle of this that I had didn’t seem off and was enjoyable to drink with dinner but I think I’m somewhere in the middle. I think even my score was right in the middle at 90. wasn’t blown away but enjoyed drinking with family.
Daniel Landi, part of the Comando G duo, produced a very fine entry level garnacha with his 16 Las Uvas de la Ira, similar pricing to the La Bruja. I’m looking forward to tasting the 1er… And totally enjoyed his higher end, 2014 El Reventon a few months ago, if on the young side. Very exciting winemaking going on in these parts, particularly when you consider the impact of global warming on Grenache on the other side of the Pyrenees…
I’m their importer in Panama, and I’ve had many of these bottles. That said, on release these had a slight amount of residual CO2 that would blow off with a quick decant or just shaking the open bottle (like the Fourrier shake). It is a concentrated vintage, at one point it had become too austere but it seems to be coming back now. The 2017 is fully ready and open, much more opulent and floral than the salty mineral 16. Im drinking the 17s and aging my 16s.
That was my experience. I tasted through the line-up and really wanted to like them but my my reaction was more or less, meh. They don’t seem like especially good value for me. I would try them again, but probably wouldn’t buy.