Located in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, a village in Gredos that belongs to the province of Madrid, the winery was founded by J. Fernando Cornejo, a lawyer, sociologist and businessman, but has been part of the Alma Carraovejas group since 2021. The progress of these wines since their launch in the 2000s has been remarkable, thanks to the efforts of winemaker Fernando García, one of the two partners behind Comando G.
The high altitude vineyards are mostly spread in plots around the villages of San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Pelayos de la Presa. All Marañones wines, from the Garnacha-based reds to the Albillo Real whites, share this character. The presence of Syrah has been reduced to avoid the heavy candied fruit notes that seemed to mask the floral, red fruit, earthy and mineral aromas present in most of the wines.
The winery farms 25 hectares of 50-year old bush vines that lie on granite hillsides and slopes (650 to 800 metres). There are four main sites: Marañones, Andrinoso, Peña Cruzada and Dehesa. Some plots are planted in narrow spaces so mules are used to plow the land.
Vinification is done separately, with indigenous yeasts and whole bunches including stems for the reds and wines are aged on large French oak barrels (500 to 700 litres) and foudres.
All the wines are produced in very small quantities. The range is inspired in the Burgundian philosophy and includes regional, site or lieux-dit and single vineyard wines. The entry-level red is 30,000 Maravedíes (12,000 bottles, €13), an excellent introduction to Garnacha from San Martín de Valdeiglesias. The same applies to the white Picarana (10,000 bottles, €15), made from Albillo Real, a variety that tends to perform better in dry years.
The red Marañones (11,000 bottles, €18) is the lieux-dit red. The grapes come from 50 to 70-year-old Garnacha plots on the site of the same name, at over 800 metres elevation. At the top of the range are three single-vineyard wines, rarely exceeding 2,000 bottles. The reds are Labros and Peña Caballera and are priced at around €35, while the white Pies Descalzos (€24) usually has a salty character and evolves beautifully over time.
