I hadn't tasted their top bottling from El Real de San Vicente for many years and was glad to see that the wine is back. The still very young and undeveloped 2021 Ataúlfos comes from the same 1.5-hectare plot of old vines in El Real de San Vicente (Toledo) planted at 830 meters in altitude on sandy granite soils. The full clusters fermented in open oak vats with indigenous yeasts and macerated for 60 days. The wine matured for six months in 500-liter oak barrels and another seven months in a 1,000-liter oak foudre. It's floral and elegant, with good ripeness and development of aromas and flavors. It has 14.5% alcohol and very good freshness that makes it balanced and approachable, even this young. It should develop nicely in bottle. 1,200 bottles were filled in February 2023.

The 2014 Ataúlfos is a single vineyard Garnacha from a 1.5-hectare plot of old vines in El Real de San Vicente (Toledo) planted at 830 meters altitude on sandy granite soils. The full clusters fermented in open oak vats with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in a combination of 500-liter oak barrels and 1,500- and 3,000-liter oak vats for some 15 months. It has a liqueur-like character that made me think of some wines from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, with those notes of cherries in liqueur and some heady notes. It has intense granite minerality, nicely textured, but with some herbal notes that do not really make sense with the ripeness of the aromas. Only 980 bottles were filled in March 2016.

Always among the most aromatic wines of Gredos, the 2013 Ataúlfos is sourced from a single 1.5-hectare plot of old Garnacha in El Real de San Vicente (Toledo) planted at 830 meters altitude on granitic soils. This is a wine of finesse, which in 2013 seems to have a ripe edge mixing violets and some malted cereals that made me think of some peated whiskeys; I've seen this before in some voluptuous Garnachas, and here it seems to be very subtle and add a point of exuberance to the natural elegance of the wine. It is produced with great care to preserve the character of the place through the fruit, fermenting the full clusters in open oak vats with indigenous yeasts;it then aged in contact with the lees in 500-liter oak barrels and in 1,500- and 3,000-liter foudres during a period of some 15 months. The palate shows good integration of the fruit with the oak, like there is more inner strength in the fruit, perhaps provided by the fine granitic minerality, which is a texture and a tactile sensation rather than aromas of flavors. Nice balanced, focused and poised, it should develop nicely in bottle. 1,000 bottles were produced.

Ataúlfos is a vineyard in El Real de San Vicente (Toledo) planted with old Garnacha on granitic soil with superficial chalk and the mother rock a mere 30 centimeters from the surface. This geological feature is a little unusual in the area and ultimately gives the wines from here finesse. The 2011 Ataulfos is aged for 14 months in 500-liter oak barrels and in 1,500- and 3,000-liter foudres. The unusual name is nothing other than the name of the owner of the vineyard. The color is a bright, clean, translucent ruby and the nose is an intoxicating mixture of red and blue berries, sweet cherries, orange peel, spices and hints of minerals, developing more floral tones with air (violets, dried roses and lilies). The palate is sleek and refined with abundant fine-grained tannins and piercing acidity that provides brightness and focus. Just as a curiosity, I tasted from a magnum, which might be a little younger and more closed than the regular bottle. The wine showed great, but it will be better in one year. Only 1,500 bottles were produced in 2011.

The 2010 El Reventon comes from a one-hectare parcel of Garnacha. It has a beautifully defined bouquet with dark berries, roasted herbs, white fennel and a tincture of something exotic, perhaps wild honey and apricot blossom. The palate is medium-bodied with a very harmonious, succinct entry: a Grenache that is beautifully balanced with perfectly judged acidity. This is one of those wines that words cannot encapsulate: simply pure, unadulterated, expressive Grenache that is nothing short of world class. Drink 2014-2025+ If you are seeking Grenache that is understated, complex, full of character and honest without resorting to new oak or ostentation, then look no further than the exquisite and rather brilliant wines of Bodegas Jimenez-Landi, which have rightly been lauded by my predecessors in previous issues. I stand accused of being even more ecstatic about these wines that were riveting earlier this year: wines that stimulate the intellect as much as the senses. Importer: Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565; and Indigo Wine www.indigowine.com in the UK.