Matilda Nieves Mencia

The wine that made global headlines is now finally here in NZ! But heads up, with stock extremely limited it’s been tightly allocated and we’ve secured a small stash.

The wine is called Matilda Nieves Mencia and before we crack into what the wine is and what it’s all about, let’s cut to the chase. This wine has been recognised as among the “50 Best Wines in the World” (and 1 of the best 9 Spanish wines) from the world’s biggest and most influential wine show, the Decanter World Wine Awards in London.

This won Best In Show with a 97/100 rating which is an absolutely incredible achievement! Winning Best In Show at the DWWA is no easy road that’s for sure. After joining over 18,000 other wines they are then awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze –  the rest are shown the door! Then the best of the best go toe-to-toe to determine the Platinum award winners. THEN, the Platinum award winners go to head-to-head to discover the overall Best In Show winners, the top 50 wines from the entire competition.

Or let’s put it another way – top 50 from over 18,000 is just 0.002% of all wines entered got a Best In Show Award!

Let’s give you the lowdown on what the wine is, where it’s from and what it tastes like!

What is Mencia?
Pronounced “Men-thee-ah” this is the grape variety. If you like Pinot Noir this is a style you’ll love. Think medium bodied, think floral and red fruit flavours. AND it has the potential to age really well! This wine is a blend of 85% Mencia, 8% Garnacha, 7% Sousón.

Who is Matilda Nieves?
Bodegas Rectoral de Amandi is the winery and Matilda Nieves is one of the founder’s granddaughters. The gorgeous label design features a forest fairy on a swing – but trust us the magic’s in the bottle!

Where’s it from?
It’s from one of the world’s most amazing wine regions – Ribeira Sacra in Galicia, north west Spain. They call winemaking here ‘Heroic Viticulture’ because the vineyards are on impossibly steep sloped terraces meaning everything has to be done by hand! No mass, commercially produced wines here (literally, the machines can’t get in there to do the work!) and as a result everything is of high quality.

What does it taste like?
An unoaked wine that is simply amazing – dark, fresh and juicy black cherries, raspberries and blackberries with a floral/herbal freshness. A must-try wine for sure!

As well as the Best In Show, 97/100 gong it’s taken out THREE Gold medals at major wine competitions in Europe and had some absolutely rave reviews from leading critics…

Jancis Robison (Master of Wine)
“It is a wine that I could only describe as impishly delicious. Joyous fruit on the nose, black cherries, elderberries, liquorice and caraway on the palate. It has notes of rose petals and menthol with rosemary-herbal freshness and is full of sweet, juicy acidity…For less than £14, you’d expect a wine to be fun, but not really complex. This is both. It way overdelivers.”

Decanter World Wine Award judging panel
“Dark, fresh and thrillingly aromatic from first sniff to last swallow..,soft-textured, mouth-filling, exuberant and comely, structured more prominently by acidity than tannin, though that acidity is sweet and juicy in its own right. There is nothing at all sharp or hard about this tender, almost lip-smacking red.”

Wines & Spirits Magazine
“This is a fresh and bright rawgrape beauty. It’s all primary pleasure, pungent, in-your-face blackberry fruit, simple and friendly.”

And as for the food match? Master of Wine Jancis Robinson’s recommendation sounds pretty damn delish to us. “We had it with a smoked leg of lamb, roast honeydew squash and a spicy gremolata. The wine disappeared as quickly as the food!”