I first met Mateo through my great friend Carlos Rodriguez back in 2014. We called into his winery near Logrono for a ‘quick Sunday lunch’ - I finally got out of there several hours later, barely able to move, let alone fit back into my piddly Seat Ibiza rental.

Aside from the food, I was struck by the quality and value of Mateo’s wines.

No, hold on, I have to discuss the food. For starters, fresh clams plucked from the sea that morning, cooked in Mateo’s white wine, olive oil and parsley. And plenty of crusty white bread to mop it all up. Followed by an enormous pile of lamb chops, sprinkled with sea salt and grilled over vine wood on the edge of his vineyard. So simple, but heavenly.

Anyway, back to reality.

Mateo makes 80,000 cases per year, so it’s a small winery by Rioja standards. He bottles the top 5% of his range under the La Mateo label you’ll find at WineSpark. These are his best grapes from his best vineyards, and aged in his best barrels.

Look out for Mateo’s grandfather, father and uncle on the label - this wine is a tribute to his family who spent decades toiling in the fields growing grapes for the family business.

I’ve actually worked with Mateo’s wines for years - Carlos has made his own wine from Mateo’s grapes for Naked Wines since day dot. Carlos tells me Mateo is very grateful for this support down the years. As a result he is helping me out at WineSpark with some amazing wines at great prices - and I’m so happy to pass on this benefit to you.