Cool nights are in hot demand now that climate change is having its way in wine regions globally. Enter Sierra de Gredos, a wine region close to Madrid by car and rail but worlds away in most wine consumer's perceptions of the place. 

Ever heard of Sierra de Gredos before?

No, neither had we. This hot, arid inland region seems to typify Spain's interior but for one thing - altitude, which provides cool nights and balancing acidity to grapes that would otherwise suffer strongly from being sun baked to the extreme.

Grapes in Gredos

Old vine Garnacha and the white Albillo Real are the main grapes here and are often organically grown. 

Winemaking tends to be without added commercial yeasts and with local, indigenous, wild yeasts, using large oak barrels and clay jars known as 'tinajas'.

Wine labels in Gredos

Wines from this area tend to fall within the Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon but there are three provinces here. Avila, Madried and Toledo are the provinces in Gredos. 

Granite soils and cool nights create flavours in grapes that have balance and make wines out of the ordinary and definitely out of left field, in terms of all the usual consumer expectations of the Garnacha (aka Grenache) grape. 

Try this...

2018 Ca di Mat Valautin Garnacha Sierre de Gredos RRP $38.99

Gentle basket press and stainless steel fermentation give this wine its soft feminine and silky style, shining a new light on Garnacha's great charms and elegance while also accentuating the higher acidity and tannin structure than is typical to this grape variety. The high altitude and granite soils in which the grapes in this wine come from both  enhance its structure from this region, which may have cool nights but which is considered hot property right now.