The medium+ intensity nose is a bit quiet, offering maturing and slightly reductive aromas of dark fruited, blackberry, and black plum surrounding a core of savoury wet earth and sandalwood. On the dry, medium+ bodied palate it is a touch spicy with delicious dark fruited, blackberry, savoury wet earth, and wood spice flavours. Acids are juicy and well-balanced, while the smooth tannins are well-integrated with some chalky textured grip. Savoury earth and mineral notes linger on the finish, with very good length.
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Purchased as a cellar-defender candidate from Rimi in Rīga, on promotion at €8.39, down from €13.99. It is adorned with a shiny silver ''Selection by Rimi'' sticker, so it might become a regular line for the trader.
Medium ruby. As well spotted and remarked by another taster this year, the nose initially bears a similarity to gamay. The nose suggests decent ripeness of straight-forward blueberry-like fruit, but after an hour it gains complexity. Dark cherry and damson plum take centre stage, with green herbs, leather, animal fur and malt extract each making brief appearances on the wings. Over the 2nd hour, some intermittent charred notes emerge, which - if I hadn't looked at the producer's fact sheet for the wine - would have made me think that this had come in contact with toasty American oak. (Maybe the indigenous yeasts bring out this nuance? Maybe some of the grapes got sunburnt?)
The palate doesn't show any wood, however, and seems to be denser than a gamay would be. Properly concentrated crunchy berry, but while it's faultlessly balanced, up to the first hour it's not showing the features that brought on the gushing reviews from Decanter and Tamlyn Currin from Jancis Robinson's site. It would be unfair to omit the admission that both of these reviews were in 2021, so I strongly suspected over that first hour - especially given the wine is closed by a Diam 1 grade cork - that the Matilda Nieves mencia is best enjoyed as young as possible and that I'd simply missed the boat. Yet afterwards, it gains weight, a silky texture, concentration and a delicious sweetness just before the crunchy finish. Harvested by hand and clearly made with care, this is very good plus and a great cellar defender. I expect fans of nebbiolo and pinot noir would enjoy this.
Tasted next to the Finca Cuarta Ribeira Sacra Mencia 2020. I really wanted to like this one. Such great reviews, others’ tasting notes sound great, and a good price. Unfortunately, this one is not for me. Too much fruit, not enough complexity, and some kind of off putting aroma/flavour/jamminess (even though it’s dry) that reminded me of mass produced commercial wines. Don’t quite understand the hype. Especially since the Finca Cuarta totally outshined this at a much lower price. Maybe I’ll give it another try. Probably not.
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Good wine, excellent QPR at $11 or so. Fairly basic profile, nice balance of fruit, mineral and tannin. I think I'll go up the price/quality scale for general purpose wine, but a great choice for a party.
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5/19/2024 - cono_sur Likes this wine: 89 Points
The medium+ intensity nose is a bit quiet, offering maturing and slightly reductive aromas of dark fruited, blackberry, and black plum surrounding a core of savoury wet earth and sandalwood. On the dry, medium+ bodied palate it is a touch spicy with delicious dark fruited, blackberry, savoury wet earth, and wood spice flavours. Acids are juicy and well-balanced, while the smooth tannins are well-integrated with some chalky textured grip. Savoury earth and mineral notes linger on the finish, with very good length.
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4/23/2024 - Ingmars wrote:
Purchased as a cellar-defender candidate from Rimi in Rīga, on promotion at €8.39, down from €13.99. It is adorned with a shiny silver ''Selection by Rimi'' sticker, so it might become a regular line for the trader.
Medium ruby. As well spotted and remarked by another taster this year, the nose initially bears a similarity to gamay. The nose suggests decent ripeness of straight-forward blueberry-like fruit, but after an hour it gains complexity. Dark cherry and damson plum take centre stage, with green herbs, leather, animal fur and malt extract each making brief appearances on the wings. Over the 2nd hour, some intermittent charred notes emerge, which - if I hadn't looked at the producer's fact sheet for the wine - would have made me think that this had come in contact with toasty American oak. (Maybe the indigenous yeasts bring out this nuance? Maybe some of the grapes got sunburnt?)
The palate doesn't show any wood, however, and seems to be denser than a gamay would be. Properly concentrated crunchy berry, but while it's faultlessly balanced, up to the first hour it's not showing the features that brought on the gushing reviews from Decanter and Tamlyn Currin from Jancis Robinson's site. It would be unfair to omit the admission that both of these reviews were in 2021, so I strongly suspected over that first hour - especially given the wine is closed by a Diam 1 grade cork - that the Matilda Nieves mencia is best enjoyed as young as possible and that I'd simply missed the boat. Yet afterwards, it gains weight, a silky texture, concentration and a delicious sweetness just before the crunchy finish. Harvested by hand and clearly made with care, this is very good plus and a great cellar defender. I expect fans of nebbiolo and pinot noir would enjoy this.
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4/20/2024 - Winosinlove wrote: 87 Points
Kate liked it. 7.5. Interesting defender. Low to no tannins.
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3/29/2024 - MF84 Does not like this wine: 83 Points
Tasted next to the Finca Cuarta Ribeira Sacra Mencia 2020. I really wanted to like this one. Such great reviews, others’ tasting notes sound great, and a good price. Unfortunately, this one is not for me. Too much fruit, not enough complexity, and some kind of off putting aroma/flavour/jamminess (even though it’s dry) that reminded me of mass produced commercial wines. Don’t quite understand the hype. Especially since the Finca Cuarta totally outshined this at a much lower price. Maybe I’ll give it another try. Probably not.
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3/23/2024 - Richard123 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Good wine, excellent QPR at $11 or so. Fairly basic profile, nice balance of fruit, mineral and tannin. I think I'll go up the price/quality scale for general purpose wine, but a great choice for a party.
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