Aurelio García and Micaela Rubio, both chemists and oenologists from the province of Cuenca, have expanded their winemaking efforts to include the high-altitude vineyards of the Sierra de Gredos in Ávila, particularly around the village of Navatalgordo. Here, the vineyards are situated at elevations between 1100 and 1300 meters, with granitic soils that vary in decomposition, texture, and orientation. The region’s continental mountain climate, marked by long, snowy winters and cool summers that extend into autumn, offers ideal conditions for cultivating old vines. Many of the vineyards in this area were abandoned following the Spanish Civil War and remained untouched for decades, providing Aurelio and Micaela with the opportunity to work with 80-year-old garnacha tinta vines. Their focus in Gredos is to explore the distinctive characteristics of each site, particularly how soil type and exposure influence the flavor and texture of the wines.
+Altitud is a village wine from Ávila, sourced from 40 plots located between 1100 and 1300 meters, making them some of the highest vineyards on the Iberian Peninsula. The wine is made from 98% garnacha tinta, with 2% white table grapes blended in. Each parcel is vinified separately based on soil type, and the wine is aged for 14 to 15 months in a mix of 60% concrete, 20% silica/clay, and 20% used 500-litre barrels.
+Altitud 2021 (A. García & M. Rubio)
Delicate, almost ethereal wine. Light in both colour and body. Aromas of red berries (raspberry, wild strawberry), complemented by subtle floral notes. It is aromatic, complex, and light on its feet, with a granite-derived texture and a distinctive mineral finish.
Aurelio García is one of the most attentive and thoughtful voices in modern Central Spanish wine. Together with his partner, Micaela Rubio, he works across three regions—Cuenca, Ávila, and Soria—always with a focus on old vineyards, native varieties, and minimal intervention. His wines are precise, expressive, and deeply rooted in place.
When a case from Aurelio García arrived in the post, two bottles had sadly broken in transit. Still, four remained intact—and with those, I took the opportunity to gather my wine club for a focused tasting. We added a few complementary wines for context, but the stars of the evening were clearly Aurelio’s own: La Infanta, +Altitud, Alto de la Cruz, and La Guía. Though we missed out on El Reflejo and Mikaela, the tasting offered a vivid insight into Aurelio’s style across three distinct regions.
Me and Aurelio in the La Infanta parcel, summer of ’23
La Infanta 2021 – Cuenca Cuenca here refers to the Ribera del Júcar zone, though Aurelio prefers not to label his wines under the DO, opting for greater freedom. La Infanta comes from a single parcel in Casas de Benítez and is made from 60% bobal and 40% co-planted local varieties. Delicate and complex, it showed dark berry fruit (dark cherry and plum) on the nose, along with herbal notes, a hint of tar, and a taut, mineral texture. A slightly bitter aftertaste added grip. There was a quiet power to it—restrained, yet full of energy.
+Altitud 2021 – Ávila A village wine from the granite soils of Navatalgordo in the Sierra de Gredos. Light in colour and body, almost ethereal, it offered notes of raspberry, wild strawberry, and flowers, with a fine, lacy texture. This was the most immediately charming wine of the tasting, with several tasters noting its vibrant fruit and finesse.
Alto de la Cruz 2022 – Ávila Also from Navatalgordo, but from a cooler, north-facing valley. Though paler in colour, this wine showed more structure and depth. It opened with herbal tones, redcurrant and floral aromatics, then narrowed into a vertical, mineral finish. There was more volume here, likely from clay soils, with fine-grained tannins and underlying tension.
La Guía 2021 – Soria From Matanza de Soria, a high-altitude village in the eastern part of Ribera del Duero. A blend of tinto fino (tempranillo) and albillo mayor from pre-phylloxera vines, it combined red and dark fruits with floral lift and a subtle hint of nuts. Velvety on the palate, cool and juicy at the core—it struck a fine balance between seriousness and drinkability. For me, this was the most complete wine of the night: subtle, savoury, and quietly profound. Meanwhile, +Altitud stood out for sheer charm and drinkability. While La Infanta and La Guía come in serious bottles with serious price tags, the wines from Gredos are outstanding value for money.
What We Missed
We didn’t get to taste El Reflejo or Mikaela, but here’s what they might have brought to the table:
El Reflejo is Aurelio’s village wine from Cuenca—a blend of bobal and co-planted varieties from around 25 parcels. Fruit-driven and supple, it offers dark and red berries, with freshness and an approachable style.
Mikaela, named after his wife and winemaking partner, is a paraje wine from deeper, pebble-rich soils. Made with whole clusters and aged in foudres, it shows juicy, concentrated fruit with a mineral streak—lively and taut.
Micaela, Celia and Aurelio, summer of ’23
Each wine carried the mark of its place, but all shared a sense of purity, restraint, and precision. Interestingly, my fellow tasters had no difficulty identifying which of the three regions each wine came from—even though the wines were, of course, tasted blind. That in itself is a mark of quality, and a testament to the clarity of Aurelio García’s site expression. Even in the absence of the two missing bottles, the tasting was a clear reminder that Aurelio García is crafting some of Spain’s most thoughtful and terroir-driven wines.
I am not among the ranks of those who follow Bourgogne closely. One reason is that I do my best to keep up with what happens other places, such as the Iberian Peninsula. I could also mention the prices. But then, Bourgogne Côte-d’Or has emerged as an exciting category for wine lovers seeking high-quality wines at more accessible prices than the prestigious appellations. What is more, the director of my local wine shop is a highly regarded expert on Bourgogne. So at a major release of Burgundies, from DRC and downwards, he said that this was a must try.
I have learned that Bouzereau is based in Meursault, where he makes elegant white wines from that appellation. The estate is now run by Michel’s son, Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau. He follows organic practices in the vineyard and employs a gentle winemaking approach to preserve the finesse of the fruit. Bouzereau employs a restrained use of new oak to preserve the wine’s elegance.
The grapes for this wine come from selected plots in the Côte de Beaune. The 2022 vintage was warm, yet retained enough freshness to ensure balance in the wines. The grapes are hand-harvested, partly destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top vats. This cuvée saw one year in barrel, 15% new.
Bright ruby with hints of violet. Aroma of red berries (cherry, raspberry), floral notes and subtle spice. Fresh and delicate in the mouth, with vibrant red fruit, balanced acidity, fine-grained tannins, with a gentle earthiness. A refined, terroir-driven pinot noir with purity of fruit and silky tannins. Beautiful already, but will evolve over the next few years.
Price: Medium
Food: Light meat (veal), roasted duck breast, or a classic wild mushroom risotto
In Toro Álvar de Dios Hernández is taking a new approach, while also respecting the region’s heritage. His journey began in 2008 when he took over a century-old vineyard from his grandfather, situated in El Pego, Zamora. This vineyard, with its sandy soils, survived the phylloxera plague, allowing the ungrafted vines planted in 1919 to thrive. In honor of his grandfather, affectionately known as Aciano, Álvar crafted a wine that encapsulates both familial legacy and the distinct terroir of the place.
Aciano 2018 is a fruit of Álvar’s commitment to sustainable viticulture and minimal intervention winemaking. Produced from tinta de toro (tempranillo) grapes, the wine undergoes natural yeast fermentation, with 60% whole clusters included. It is then aged for 12 months in neutral French oak barrels ranging from 300 to 600 liters. The result is a wine that stands out in the Toro appellation for its elegance and finesse, diverging from the region’s typically robust style. I hope this could be the future.
Aciano 2018(Álvar de Dios)
Dark cherry red. Aromatic herbs, wild berries, and floral notes, exuding freshness and restrained ripeness. On the palate, the wine offers a chalky minerality, a fresh acidity and grainy, sandy tannins that reflect the vineyard’s soil. Good concentration and decent length.
In September 2024, João Tavares de Pina’s estate, Quinta da Boavista in Penalva do Castelo, Portugal, was devastated by a wildfire. The blaze reduced the family home to ashes and destroyed 85% of the vineyards.
To support João and his family during this challenging time, friends and colleagues organized several solidarity initiatives. Among them was a wine lottery, where winemakers from various countries donated special bottles to raise funds for the reconstruction of Quinta da Boavista. Additionally, a GoFundMe campaign was launched to provide further support.
At Simplesmente Vinho 2025, João presented a wine as part of his own crowdfunding project. Terras de Tavares Reserva 2004, made from touriga nacional, jaen and rufete, is a richly textured and mature wine—dark with brown hues at the edges—offering aromas of ripe and dried fruits, plums, and prunes, alongside flavors of ripe berries, spices, and dark chocolate, with silky tannins. The project itself is well worth supporting, but the wine is also truly exceptional.
