4 Monos (4 Monkeys) is a project started in 2010 by 4 wine savvy friends - Javier García, Laura Robles, David Velasco and David Moreno – in the Sierra de Gredos mountains, west of Madrid. They work 5 hectares of their own, as well as 5ha with other growers, all located in and around the villages of San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Cadalso de los Vidrios, and Cenicientos. Their mission is to capture the purity of the local old vine Albillo and Garnacha grapes and the granitic soils of the area by utilizing organic viticulture and natural winemaking methods, such as wild yeasts and whole grape clusters for fermentation, foot-trodding the grapes for minimal extraction, little sulfur, and neutral oak treatment. These wines are weightless and flavorful with lipsmacking granitic minerality and incomparable finesse. Vinos de Madrid is an appellation that encompasses a broad area within 3 provinces surrounding the city of Madrid. The climate is continental with a bit more rainfall than the rest of central Spain.

The most prized area for serious winegrowing is called San Martín de Valdeiglesias, about 85km from Madrid in the Sierra de Gredos mountain range. Here, there are gently rolling hills of green scrub brush and vines planted on a shallow topsoil of sand over a base of granite. The elevation is quite high, starting at 650 meters, and going up to well over a thousand meters. The GR-10 Blanco is a “villages” white from vineyards in Cadalso de Los Vidrios (80-100yr old Albillo) and San Martín de Valdeiglesias (young Macabeo/Moscatel). Grapes were hand-harvested, cold-macerated whole cluster for 12 hours, gently pressed and wild yeast fermented in steel tank and used 300 & 600L French barrels, and raised in the same vessels on fine lees for 6 months. The finished wine was blended, lightly clarified with bentonite and bottled without filtration. This is a fresh mountain white with lovely aromatics and delicious drinkability.