August 2025 - Sierra de Gredos, Spain

August 2025

Sierra de Gredos

Spain

Featuring:

Bernabeleva

This month, the focus is a small region in Central Spain located just 40 miles from the country’s bustling capital city, but far from the beaten path of usual wine regions. The 1 hour car ride from Madrid transports people from a metropolis to a vast, rural landscape that is home to some of Spain’s most under-appreciated wines.

Sierra de Gredos (Gredos Mountains) aren’t technically a wine region (or DO, as Spain calls them). The wines are labeled as Vinos de Madrid, which is a larger DO surrounding the city of Madrid. Vinos de Madrid is an often overlooked region, especially considering the lack of romance surrounding wine growing near a major city. That said, the region does produce some significant statistics - 21,000+ acres under vine (~50% of the entire state of Oregon), 45 wineries, and 200+ wines. The appellation is split into 4 sub-zones: El Molar, Navalcarnero, Arganda, and San Martín de Valdeiglesias. These are located, respectively, North, South-east, and West of the city center. San Martín de Valdeiglesias - where the Gredos Mountains start and where our focus winery are located - is even further West of Arganda. 

This part of Spain is a rather continental climate, with long, hot summers and cold but short winters. Rainfall is sparse across the region, however San Martín sees the most precipitation (25 in/yr) due Gredos Mountains. For comparison, Portland receives 36 in/yr and Napa Valley sees 27 in/yr of rain. The area is mostly safe from spring frosts, but summer hail remains an issue and - in recent years - wildfires threaten growers. Geography is extreme in the mountains, with vineyard elevation at 800m-1200m (2600-4000 feet) on average. 

Producers here are largely focused on two grapes - Garnacha (Grenache) and Albillo Real (not to be confused with Albariño). Garnacha grown at altitude like this tends to take on a lighter weight and more woodsy, aromatic qualities alongside the usual firm skin tannins and bright cherry aromas. Upon tasting, one might find more similarities with Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo than with Southern Spain’s Garnacha or France’s Rhône Grenache. The star white grape is Albillo Real, which is slightly different from the Albillo grape grown in Castilla, the Canary Islands, or La Mancha. Albillo Real (also called Albillo Madrid) trends towards minerality, with notes of peach and pear fruits, and subtle white flower aromatics. As with any wine region, other grapes are grown here too - Tempranillo, Macabeo, Godello, Carignan, Listán Negro, and Verdejo. As a whole, producers are less focused on experimenting with new grapes than they are to perfecting their expressions of Garnacha Tinto and Albillo Real. 

By all accounts, the Gredos Mountains has all the makings of a DO unto itself. Will we ever see it become one? Possibly. Until then, we will enjoy the value presented by something as insignificant as ‘Vinos de Madrid’ being stamped on the label.

Bernabeleva

This estate’s story begins just over 100 years ago, in 1923, when a doctor named Vincente Alvarez-Villamil purchased land on the edge of the Sierra de Gredos. At the time a full day’s ride from Madrid, Vincente had dreams of an agrarian lifestyle far from the city he built his career and life in. This land was formerly inhabited by the Celtics, with boulders carved into bears at the edge of forests dedicated to hunting. The estate was named Bernabeleva, or Bear’s Forest, as an homage to this past. Vincente believed Garnacha could thrive here - one of the first to hold such beliefs - and planted his first vineyards exclusively to this grape. 

The next decade saw intense political and economic hardship for Spain - a global depression broke out and the Spanish civil war erupted in 1936. Vincente had to abandon his dreams of winemaking and return to the city. But he held onto the land.

In 2006, Vincente’s great-grandchildren Juan Diez Bulnes and Santiago Matallana Bulnes returned to their family’s lands in the Gredos Mountains. The vineyards, now over 80 years old, were fully matured and growing old-vine Garnacha. The duo looked past the early 2000’s trend of making big, oak-laden wines (this was near peak Robert Parker-era) and instead opted to craft elegant, pure reds that were in-line with the wines their Great-grandfather originally sought to produce.

After several years, Santiago left the project but Juan continued to toil and build the brand from scratch. He sought consultation from Spanish wine legend Raúl Pérez, who is not only one of the top winemakers of Spain but also a master of cool-climate reds and whites. Raúl recommended hiring Marc Isart Pinos, a young Catalan winemaker, to help Juan craft the wines and the duo got to work making light, expressive wines that respected the unique terroir of the Gredos Mountains.

Presently, both consultants have moved onto other projects, the winemaking style that Marc and Raúl helped establish still defines Juan’s wines at Bernabeleva today. Work starts in the vineyard with practicing organic and biodynamic viticulture. In the cellar, the team utilizes low intervention winemaking practices, limited use of sulfur dioxide, long macerations, and aging in neutral oak allow the terroir to shine through the wines without masking them behind high alcohol, new oak, or preservatives. Over time, Juan has learned which blocks produce better grapes and now makes fifteen different wines, each showcasing a unique part of the Bernabeleva estate.

Though the Bernabeleva estate looks like a 100+ year old winery on paper, it is really in its infancy - celebrating their 20th vintage next Fall. More importantly, the Sierra de Gredos is also in its infancy as a wine region. Hardly anyone had heard of this region a decade ago, much less celebrated it. Today it is continuing to notoriety and pioneering estates like Bernebeleva remain at the forefront of this renaissance. While Gredos may never get its own DO, nor be as celebrated internationally as Rioja or Priorat, the wines will undoubtedly continue to improve and will be worth keeping an eye on for years to come.

Bernabeleva, ‘Camino de Navaherreros’ Bianco, Madrid 2024

The two base wines of the Bernabeleva estate are called ‘Camino de Navaherreros’ as an homage to the vineyards along the local dirt road called Navaherreros. These two wines showcase the estate as a whole, including their winemaking style and terroir. The vineyards are planted amongst scrubland of rockrose, juniper, thyme, rosemary, oak, becoming another part of the natural landscape rather than a clear-cut monoculture of grape vines. 

The white ‘Camino’ is a blend of 50% Albillo Real, 30% Macabeo, 15% Moscatel, and 5% Grenache Blanc. The wine is bright and fruity, with pineapple, tangerine, white peach, honey, and a subtle salinity. This is a perfect wine to drink on its own, or have with light summer fare like watermelon salad or grilled fish.

Bernabeleva, ‘Camino de Navaherreros’ Tinto, Madrid 2023

The ‘Camino’ Tinto, by contrast, is an expression of 100% Grenache. Unlike the top wines of the estate, which showcase a singular plot of grapes, this wine showcases a variety of terroirs across the entire property. Everything comes from vines they farm themselves - no purchased fruit here. In a break from the industry norm, even some of the oldest vine plots are included in this ‘entry level’ wine, which shows Bernabeleva’s dedication to quality across the board.

This wine is fermented in large, upright (open top) neutral barrels, aged in 5,000-10,000L neutral oak foudres, and produced using the low-intervention principles mentioned above. The resulting wine is bright and expressive, with brisk acidity and aromas of red fruit like cherries and pomegranate, woodsy spice, and a touch of minerality. Closing one’s eyes while inhaling the wine in glass, you can almost smell the garrigue it is grown amongst - juniper, thyme, and rosemary to be specific.

The wine is light and fresh enough to drink all on its own, but would also accompany a summer cookout splendidly. While it doesn’t need to be chilled down, the wine would probably be better off at cellar temperature or even colder if you’re drinking it on a warm summer day. (My hack for perfect red summer temperature for those without a ‘cellar’ - put it in the fridge, pour yourself a small glass, and let it come up to temperature out of the fridge. As it warms up, it will be more expressive but those first few sips will still be other-worldly refreshing. If it stays too cold, however, key aromas will be muted and you’ll mostly just notice the alcohol and acidity.)