2020 Rectoral de Amandi Ribeira Sacra Matilda Nieves

Community Tasting Notes (60) Avg Score: 89.5 points

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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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  3/23/2024 - 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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  1/23/2024 - snarfglk Likes this wine: 90 Points

  real nice

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  1/13/2024 - MS86 Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Great value. On the lighter, juicier side. Reminds me of Gamay. Tart red cherry, red licorice, juice berry candy and leather. Mellow tannins, bright and persistent acidity. Addition of tart cranberry on the palate. Fun wine. Would buy again.

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