Soto Manrique

Soto Manrique farm Garnacha in the Sierra de Gredos, the mountain range west of Madrid where old, ungrafted vines grow at altitude on thin granitic soils. The conditions are demanding but the results are striking: lighter, more aromatic reds with a freshness that has little in common with the fuller-bodied Garnacha made at lower altitudes in warmer parts of Spain.

They make several wines from different sites across the mountains, spanning everyday drinking styles through to more complex single-vineyard bottlings. All of them are worth trying, and the range as a whole offers a thorough education in what this corner of Spain can do.