Bodega Nekeas 'Pale Rosado' 2025

When in Pamplona last summer, a sommelier practically scoffed when I engaged in conversation about the difference between Rosé and Rosado. Of course they're French and Spanish words to mean the same thing, but in the region, the terms also identify two very different styles of pink wine. Rosé is as we know it; pale, crisp and bone dry. Rosado, to the Basques and Navarrese is a very specific dense hue of pink; the wines are soft, fragrant and juicy. In this part of Spain, they don't drink Rosé - they drink Rosado.

So imagine my surprise when I tasted a wine named 'Pale Rosado'. Perhaps they're coming around to the commercial realities of exporting Rosado. My surprise didn't dwindle - this pale Rosado is a triumph. Softly citrusy, floral and juicy, with racy fresh acidity and texture on the palate. So pale that it's practically white wine in the glass, this is elegant and refreshing and will likely have a spot permanently reserved in my fridge door this summer. 

Winemaking in Nekeas dates to the 16th century, and it was thriving till the middle of the 20th century when industrial development around Pamplona and depressed grape prices achieved what the phylloxera blight had failed to do. Little more than the smaller, inaccessible plots of mostly old-vine Garnacha survived.

Thankfully since the 1990s the descendants of the original grape growing families have revived old traditions on these often impossibly steep slopes at 450-650 metres above sea level at the foothills of the Pyrenees. Here, Nekeas benefits from a rare meeting of Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, bringing freshness, altitude, and slow ripening to its wines. Under the long-standing guidance of winemaker Concha Vecino, one of Spain’s leading female winemakers, the house style leans toward balance and drinkability, whilst remaining true to Navarra's unique terroir.