Why it matters
The producer
Bodega Marañones makes Garnacha Tinta from granite soils in the Sierra de Gredos, the mountain range that runs west of Madrid toward the Portuguese border. The bodega sits at the quieter end of a regional argument: that Garnacha, when grown at altitude on poor granite rather than in warmer, lower-lying Spanish terrain, produces wines that are lighter in colour, fresher in acidity, and far less jammy than most drinkers expect from the grape.
In 2021, the Alma Carraovejas group acquired the bodega. Javier Blasco took over winemaking from Fernando García Alonso, who had founded the estate and shaped its house direction from the beginning. García Alonso was among the winemakers who worked with high-altitude Garnacha in the early 2000s, a loose movement that treated high-altitude Garnacha as a vehicle for freshness rather than extraction. Blasco has continued under that framing. The 30.000 Maravedíes is characterised by the estate itself as the fruitiest and most delicate expression of Grenache from the Gredos.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The Sierra de Gredos is a granite mountain range. Vineyards here sit at 700 to 900 metres above sea level, which pushes ripening later into the season and keeps the fruit cooler through the growing period. This produces Garnacha with lower potential alcohol, brighter acidity, and a linear rather than rounded mouthfeel. The granite soils drain freely and hold little water, which stresses the vine and concentrates flavour without adding the weight that clay or alluvial soils produce.
Granite is the soil constant at Marañones. It weathers slowly into coarse, sandy decomposed rock that drains without retaining much organic matter. Vines on granite tend to produce small berries with concentrated juice and thin skins, which translates into pale, transparent-looking reds with more perfume than pigment. The combination of granite, altitude, and old bush vines creates the base conditions for the style the bodega works toward: lightness, aromatic lift, and a mineral thread through the finish.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The vines at Marañones are old bush vines trained without wire support, a traditional Gredos method that limits yield and concentrates the fruit. Bush-trained vines in high-altitude granite produce small clusters with thicker skin-to-juice ratios, giving the wine its pale colour and its aromatic intensity without bulk.
In the cellar, the 30.000 Maravedíes is aged for 15 months on its own lees in a combination of large-format foudres, French oak barrels, and concrete vats. Each vessel does different work. Foudres allow slow, gentle oxygen exchange without adding wood flavour, which builds texture and roundness in the mid-palate. French oak barrels contribute a faint spice integration. Concrete preserves fruit freshness and keeps the wine's primary aromatic profile intact. Lees contact over 15 months adds weight and a creamy texture to what would otherwise be a very lean, high-acid wine. The mixed vessel approach is a deliberate choice to layer texture rather than impose a single oak signature across the wine.
Wines to know
The range in view
The confirmed wine in the Marañones range is 30.000 Maravedíes, a 100% Garnacha Tinta aged 15 months on lees across foudres, French oak, and concrete. It is the wine around which the estate's approach is built.
The wine is positioned as the fruitiest and most delicate expression of Garnacha from the Gredos. In sensory terms, the wine has pale red colour, red cherry and pomegranate fruit rather than dark plum or blackberry, firm but not heavy tannin, and a freshness through the acidity that keeps the fruit lively rather than ripe or jammy. The lees ageing adds a slight creaminess to the mouthfeel without obscuring that freshness. The oak vessels contribute texture and faint spice but do not leave a dominant wood mark on the wine.