Salvajes de Gredos

Salvajes de Gredos is a project marrying traditional viticulture with passion and innovation. Harnessing old vines, distinctive terroir and the exceptional winemaking skills of Marc Isart, the venture has been setting a new benchmark for authentic, fresh and characterful wines from the Sierra de Gredos region since 2023.

Friendship and expertise

Long-time friends Miguel Santiago Carrillo and Marc Isart founded the Salvajes de Gredos project in 2023. Both are experienced winemakers who have over 15 years of experience in the Sierra de Gredos region under their belt. Their 15 hectares of vineyard in the municipalities of Cadalso de los Vidrios and San Martín de Valdeiglesias sit on sandy granite soils at elevations of between 800 and 930 metres. These holdings, consisting of grape varieties Albillo Real, Garnacha, and Cariñena, are over 50 years of age. Carillo and Isart aim to capture the unique essence of the Sierra de Gredos mountains in each of their wines.

Marc Isart – a Gredos pioneer

Marc Isart is one of the most important winemakers in the Sierra de Gredos. After studying agricultural science and oenology, Isart started his career working in the Arganda sub-zone of the Vinos de Madrid appellation. He then moved to the San Martín de Valdeiglesias sub-zone in 2007, where he made the wines at Bodegas Bernabeleva until 2021. He, Fernando García and Daniel Landi also set up the groundbreaking Comando G. project in 2008, recultivating abandoned Garnacha plots in the Sierra de Gredos and establishing their own unique style: delicate red wines of extraordinary freshness and minerality that are often compared to top Burgundy. Isart left Comando G in 2013 to focus on Bernabeleva and his own La Maldición label. Since 2016, he has also been making the wine at Telmo Rodríguez’s Sierra de Gredos property. Salvajes de Gredos represents Isart’s continued ode to eco-friendly, terroir-driven viticulture.

Wines that let the terroir do the talking

The Sierra de Gredos is 2,592 metres above sea level at its highest point. Boasting a variety of altitudes, soils and microclimates, this heterogeneous region situated to the west of Madrid is the ideal spot to make authentic wine. Salvajes de Gredos captures this diversity. Isart’s ‘Marino’ entry-level bottlings include a white, a rosé and a red, with two single-varietal Garnacha village wines from Cadalso and San Martin higher up the quality pyramid.

Through low-intervention winemaking that relies on wild-yeast fermentation and the use of old wood, Isart is able to showcase the freshness and minerality of the terroir at his disposal. He made 12,000 bottles in his first vintage and aims to increase production to 35,000. This exciting project takes the wines of the Sierra de Gredos to the next level.