Bodega Nekeas Tinto 2024

This has quickly become the red wine that I keep on hand at home for any occasion. Soft, juicy with an alluring red peppercorn spice, this massively overdelivers on flavour and genuine character for its price. Intense aromas of blackberry and wild strawberry with a lovely smooth, rich palate. A wonderful accompaniment to mid-week pasta dishes.

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.