Located in Jiménez de Jamuz (León), restaurant El Capricho is famous for its world-class beef but also for the sheer passion of its owner José Gordón, who selects and rears magnificent oxen so that the meat can be enjoyed at its best. What is less known is that it all began with a wine cellar founded by his grandfather, Segundo Gordón. First there was the wine, then the food to match it.
Segundo planted vines on the poorest land in the village. José, who has always made sure to have a wide range of wines to pair with his beef and has preserved the underground cellars where his grandfather made wine, was saddened by the neglect he saw in many of these vineyards. "There were even holm oaks growing among the vines. When I started to look after them, people said I was crazy and suggested I pull them up and replant, but I did not want to lose these old vines. I always felt that great wines could be made here. It is no coincidence that there were around 240 small wineries in the area at one time," he explains.
It was 2013 and it took until 2016 to produce the first vintage. He managed to fill about 2,000 bottles, most of which were sold in the restaurant. The terrible frost of 2017 hit this high elevation area hard - barely any grapes were picked. On the other hand, the area benefits from cool night temperatures from mid-August. The best vintages so far have been 2019, 2020, when, unlike in other regions, mildew was not a problem, and especially 2021.
Over time, more vineyards have been purchased, bringing the total to around 20 hectares, which barely produce 30,000 bottles given the low yields and the time needed to recover these old vineyards. In 2023, almost half of the crop was lost as a result of rain during the harvest, which led to widespread botrytis.
The area lies in a narrow valley carved out by the Jamuz river, which flows down from the Sierra de Torneros and meets the Órbigo, a tributary of the river Duero, to the south of La Bañeza, the area's main urban centre. Mount Teleno, the highest peak in the Montes de León mountain range, protects it from storms and provides a unique microclimate with plenty of sunshine. This is a distinctly continental area with a high risk of frost, so most of the vines are trained close to the ground, almost crawling. They are now being raised a little to avoid botrytis in the final stages of ripening.
Most of the plots are in Jiménez del Jamuz, where they have found different types of soil, including slate and calcareous clay, which result in distinctive styles of wine. Other vineyards are located in La Bañeza, Santa Elena de Jamuz to the south and, up the valley, in Herreros del Jamuz and Quintana Flórez at 900 metres. Most of the vineyards are at 800 metres above sea level, are organically farmed and will be certified in 2024.
Mencía is the dominant variety, followed by Alicante Bouschet and, to a lesser extent, Prieto Picudo and white grapes. The average age of the vineyards is around 80 years. José's grandfather used to make wines with little extraction, closer to the style of a 'clarete' than a red wine. He also used large barrels, a feature that has been maintained to this day.
Winemaking takes place in the neighbouring village of Herreros de Jamuz, at the Fuentes del Silencio winery. Both producers have the same winemaker. Marta Ramas points out that the wines of El Capricho are strongly connected to their soils and develop remarkably in the bottle, especially in the palate. She feels that Mencía grown in Jiménez del Jamuz is more exuberant than the one planted in the higher areas of the valley. Fermentation is carried out with around 50% of the stems, or more in the case of limited production wines, when the grapes are trodden with the feet and handled gently without much stirring.
The flagship wine is El Chano (€26). It is fermented in stainless steel and 5,000-litre wooden vats and aged in French oak for 12 months. About 50% is Mencía, plus 25-30% Alicante and smaller amounts of Prieto Picudo and Palomino.
There is also a delightful single-varietal Prieto Picudo called La Perla (€49, no more than 1,000 bottles). It's elegant, spicy and complex, with a careful, limited extraction that seems entirely appropriate for this variety. Valdecedín (€85, fewer than 1,000 bottles) is a single-vineyard red with generous clay soils mixed with quartzite and other minerals. Production has increased with the recovery of the vineyard. It is mainly Mencía, with some Alicante Bouschet and Prieto Picudo. There is more depth and structure here, with a pronounced earthy character and fine texture.
