Vinos de Madrid. Spain’s best kept wine secret?
We take a look at the Spanish winemaking region of Vinos de Madrid, a Denominacion de Origen that should be getting far more recognition than it does.
I was at a wine tasting the other day where we were presented with the latest offerings from renowned and respected winemaker Mark Isart. Mark has been making wine in the DO Vinos de Madrid for over 20 years and always manages to produce wines that wonderfully reflect their homeland whilst being simple, unpretentious, and eminently drinkable.
The wines on offer at the tasting were no exception. The whites were crisp, aromatic and clean on the tongue. The reds were vibrant, full of crisp red fruits, wrapped in soft, light tannins, and that generous mouth feel you get from a well-made Garnacha. I’ll try to give a more detailed breakdown of the wines we tasted in another blog post, but suffice it to say they were delicious examples of what the DO Vinos de Madrid can offer.
And not for the first time I found myself amazed that this fantastic DO doesn’t get more attention. I absolutely love the wines from here and if you told me I was only ever going to be able to drink wines from this region I wouldn’t consider it a hardship. Boasting names such as Bernabeleva, Las Moradas, Comando G, Marañones, and Mark’s own Cinco Leguas, this Madrid DO is home to producers representing the best of modern Spanish wine.
And yet ask anyone to list the top winemaking regions of Spain and this one will barely get a mention – even among Spanish wine drinkers. Which I find puzzling. These vineyards are just a stone’s throw from Madrid – Spain’s capital and the beating economic heart of the country. The city is teeming with restaurants, bars, and wine shops, not to mention countless advertising agencies and PR firms. You’d have thought with that potent combination, Madrid’s own wines would be thrust upon you around every corner. But walk into just about any city bar and almost all of them will offer you the choice of a Rioja or a Ribera. It amazes me.
So allow me to shed some light on this unsung little hero of mine and see if I can make a small contribution to getting this excellent DO on the map.
DO Vinos de Madrid sits in the centre of Spain
Vinos de Madrid is one of Spain’s newer DOs. Established in 1990, for a long time it was divided into the three distinct sub-zones Arganda, Navalcarnero and San Martín de Valdeiglesias which together form an east-to-west arc about 50km south of the city of Madrid. Recently in 2019, a fourth sub-zone was added in El Molar, about 40km north of the city of Madrid.
Arganda, in the south-east of the region of Madrid, is the largest of the four sub-zones with 28 wineries and just over 50% of the DO’s total vineyard area. Then you’ve got San Martín de Valdeiglesias, which is situated to the west, near the Sierra de Gredos mountain range, and comprises 18 wineries, accounting for about 25% of the DO's production.
The four sub-regions of DO Vinos de Madrid
Between the two you have Navalcarnero, sitting to the southwest of the city. This sub-region has just 5 wineries but contributes approximately 15% of the DO's annual production. And finally, you have the newest sub-region, El Molar. Officially recognised as part of the DO in 2019, this region sits about 40km north of Madrid. Right now, the Consejo Regulador (the official body in charge of administering the DO) lists just two vineyards on its website, of which only one has official DO status. But hey, we all have to start somewhere.
In terms of geography, Arganda is relatively flat, especially along the Jarama River valley, making it the most accessible wine-growing area of the four. The soils here are predominantly loamy with a significant clay component, which sits over a granite subsoil, providing a firm foundation for vine growth. Arganda has a classic continental climate with long, hot summers and cold winters. It’s the driest of the four subzones, receiving an average annual rainfall of approximately 450 mm, which creates challenging conditions for viticulture but also leads to concentrated, expressive wines.
Navalcarnero consists of gently rolling hills with soils that are low in nutrients, lacking carbonates, and underlain by a clay subsoil. This soil composition affects water retention and vine development, leading to lower yields but often higher-quality fruit. Like Arganda, Navalcarnero experiences a continental climate with significant temperature variations between summer and winter. However, it receives slightly more rainfall, around 500 mm per year, which provides a somewhat more favourable environment for vine growth compared to its southeastern neighbour.
At the northern end of the DO, El Molar is something of a work in progress. And with just two bodegas on the books, it’s difficult to make generalisations about how its geography affects the styles of wines. But in general, it has a similar continental climate to the other subzones.
That can’t be said of San Martín de Valdeiglesias which has a dramatically different landscape from the other subzones. With rugged terrain, higher elevations, and steeper slopes this is much more ‘mountain country’ than the other three. The soils here are rich and dark, often granite-based, which contributes to the minerality and freshness of its wines.
The Sierra de Gredos mountain range sits to the north and west of the San Martín de Valdeiglesias region
San Martín benefits from a more temperate climate due to its proximity to the mountains, making it cooler than the other subzones. It also receives the highest annual rainfall, approximately 650 mm, which helps maintain a longer growing season and allows for the development of more complex flavours in the grapes. The combination of altitude, cooler temperatures, and unique soil composition makes San Martín’s wines some of the most distinctive in the Vinos de Madrid DO.
Then there are the grapes.
On the white side, you have Albillo Real and Malvar. In DO Vinos de Madrid, Albillo Real is almost exclusively used in San Martín de Valdeiglesias, although outside the DO, you’ll also find it in Ribera del Duero and some parts of Galicia. It produces wines with delicious aromas of quince, pear, orange blossom and jasmine, sometimes with a touch of grapefruit skin. The wines can be quite dense, almost oily in the mouth, with good structure and, occasionally, a slightly bitter aftertaste. Although it can also be a bit oxidative, which means its wines can sometimes develop nuttier, sherry-like characteristics.
Malvar, meanwhile, is a typically Madrid grape. It’s true that you’ll find it used sparingly in vineyards in Castilla La Mancha but ask most Madrid winemakers and Malvar is all their own. For a while, it was – quite wrongly – mixed up with Airen, the highest-produced white wine grape in Spain. So much so that it was at one point at risk of disappearing without a trace, swallowed up in hectare upon hectare of grapes destined for table wine and brandy. But a few astute viticulturalists saw fit to preserve this traditional Spanish variety and now we can enjoy its wonderful fresh wines, full of crisp citrus notes when young, and fleshy, unctuous and full-bodied if allowed to age. Yum!
On the red side, the region is dominated by the more well-known varieties of Garnacha and Tempranillo (or Tinto Fino as it’s known here). Tempranillo dominates in Arganda and Navalcarnero, whilst Garnacha is king in San Martín and El Molar. And for me, it’s the Garnacha that sets this region apart. With its granite soils, higher elevation, lower rainfall, and more extreme temperatures, San Martín produces Garnachas that are full-bodied, soft and round, yet full of crisp, bright, young red fruit that cut through the pallet and leave your taste buds singing. It’s like being slapped in the face with a bunch of cranberries wrapped inside a velvet glove (or at least it is to me – you may want to find your own metaphor!)
Personal tastes aside, Vinos de Madrid has lots to shout about. It’s got varied landscapes, native grape varieties, wonderful granite soils, and winemakers that are at the forefront of the modern Spanish wine scene. And it’s only a hop, skip and a jump from the country’s capital. Anyone who wants to discover some of Spanish wine’s hidden delights would be crazy to overlook this gem. One taste of the wines and you’ll be hooked. Just try to leave some for me, please.
Cheers!
If you enjoyed this newsletter article, why not consider investing in our book, Simply Spanish Wine: A Practical Guide for Wine Lovers. It’s available in paperback and Kindle format on all main Amazon stores.
I can recommend the book Simply Spanish Wine which I got from Amazon.I would like to see some wine recommendations from Madrid area which I can buy from say Decantalo or Indies in the U.K.