Jimenez Landi Sotorrondero, DO Mentrida

Description

Jimenez Landi Sotorrondero is a Spanish red wine categorized as a “Vino de Pueblo”, or village wine, which is produced in the Denominacio de Origin Mentrida wine growing appellation. Located to the south-west of Madrid, DO Mentrida covers many municipalities in the north-east corner of the province of Toledo in Castile La Mancha. The DO was established in 1976 and the red grape Garnacha (also known as Grenache) accounts for 80% of plantings.

Family owned Bodegas Jimenez-Landi was established in 1961 when husband and wife Antonio Jiménez-Landi Martínez De Ojeda and María Luisa Usunáriz Sanmartín De Capistrós bought Dehesa del Romeral and planted vineyards in the surrounding area. In 1963, in partnership with Helios Sainz, a wine producer from Valencia, the winery buildings were renovated and modern equipment was installed throughout. Sainz left the business in 1980 and the son of Antonio Jiménez-Landi Martínez, Pedro Antonio Jiménez-Landi Usunariz took control of the estate. In 2004 the entire wine-making operation was revamped and equipment renewed once again and son of Pedro Antonio, Jose Benavides Jiménez-Landi, and his cousin, Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi, began a new project to produce, terroir-driven Garnacha but with the utmost respect for the environment. Daniel left in 2012 to begin his own wine project. Today the winery is widely recognized as being expert producers of Garnacha using 21st century wine-making whilst respecting history and tradition.

The estate has two main vineyard locations in the villages of Mentrida and Real de San Vicente. There 15 hectares of vineyards in Mentrida have vine ages of between 12 to 40 years old. These are situated at an altitude between 550 and 650 metres above sea level. The climate is extreme continental with very hot summers and long cold winters with some shelter provided from the cold, north winds provided by the nearby Sierra de Gredos mountain range. The soils are mainly of granitic, sandy composition. There are another 5 hectares vineyards consisting of very old Garnacha located in Real de San Vicente with ages between 40 and 70 years old, located between 750 and 850 metres above sea level. These are small plots on sandy granite soils of siliceous origin and are organically farmed.

Wine-making is carried out by hand. Grapes are manually harvested and the individual plots from each village are vinified separately. Vinification is carried out in a combination of stainless steel and open top wooden vats. The wines are aged in only lightly toasted French oak barrels and foudres, ranging in size between 500 and 3000 litres, to allow the full expression of the character of the grapes and terroirs. The wines are bottled unfiltered with minimal sulphur.

Jimenez Landi Sotorrondero of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah grapes. The Syrah is sourced from a plot of vines in the village of Mentrida whilst the Grenache comes from the village of Real de San Vicente. The vines have an average age of 60 years old and are situated at an altitude of 750 to 900 metres above sea level. The grapes undergo a cold soak for 4 days prior to fermentation with indegnous yeasts in wooden vats. 30% of the grapes are destemmed. Temperature controlled fermentation can last between 20 to 30 days depending on the various plots and tanks. There is gentle extraction with some pumping over and delestage. The wine is matured in French oak barrels and foudres. Bottled without filtration. 

Sotorrondero is the location of one of the estates plots in the village of Mentrida.

This wine is biodynamic.