Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards Mencía 2023
- 90
- $35
- Drink by: 2024-2027
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Mencía hails from Bierzo in northwestern Spain where its affinity for a Mediterranean climate has ensured it is very much at home in McLaren Vale. This delightful example pours the deep purple of black cherry juice as the same inky fruit continues in the aromas, against a backdrop of deep, earthy spice. It tastes like ripe plums, baked blueberries and crystallised violets. There’s minerality akin to sea-sprayed volcanic rock and tannins the texture of a graphite drawing pencil. In Bierzo they pair this with grilled meat, and with our Aussie love for BBQ, it seems appropriate to learn from the experts.
Nicole loves wine. So much so that she gave up a successful career in Pharmacy, perfected her spitting technique, and moved from sunny Queensland to the wine-drenched laneways of Melbourne. Stints in hospitality, wineries, retail, sales and marketing filled the next few years while Nicole built her knowledge and searched for the right path. She completed the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2016 and became a certified WSET Educator the following year. She now juggles a number of roles including teaching people about wine, curating wines lists for restaurants and bars, judging in Australian wine shows and, of course, writing. In 2016 she won the Negociants Working With Wine writing award and has since contributed to Gourmet Traveller WINE, Halliday Wine Companion Magazine and Nourish Magazine.
