The best Spanish wines have a tendency to conjure up all the romance of Spain, capturing images and sensations of blazing sunshine, passion, arid landscapes and sparkling seas. Spanish wines tend to full-bodied and earthy, and they are made to be enjoyed alongside the beautifully rustic cuisine the country does so well. In the beautiful Duero Valley, on the south bank of the river in the traditional Toro region, we find the winery of Numanthia - a quintessentially Spanish winery which is bringing a touch of the passion of the Iberian Peninsula to the wider world of wine.

The winery takes its name from an ancient town, which we are told is synonymous with the classic tales of Spanish heroism and spirit of resistance. They say that the Spanish town of Numanthia resisted for a hundred years a siege by the Roman army, which had decimated much of Europe by this time, and the wines which were drunk there were enriched by the blood of Numanthia’s enemies and their dogged perseverance. Interestingly, there is a parallel drawn between this legend and more recent history: this section of the Duero River Valley where we find the Numanthia winery also managed to resist the Phylloxera outbreak, a disease which almost completely destroyed the European wine industry and saw several grape varietals pushed to the edge of extinction.

As with many wineries in this part of Spain, Numanthia takes full advantage of the long and luxurious summer months, which allow their traditional native grape varietals to reach a fantastic level of ripeness. The vineyards dotted around the south bank of the Duero benefit from an interesting range of geological features, and feature Pliocene grit, clay and limestone deposits, all of which add a fascinating character to the bottles, which have been winning awards since their first vintage in 1998.