2018 Benevolent Neglect Riesling Nelson Family Vineyards Mendocino 750 ml

Winemaker Matt Nagy has helped craft some of the most sought-after wines in the world. Alongside 100-point legend Thomas Rivers Brown and Winemaker of the Year Steve Matthiasson, he’s worked with wines that have, over the years, been praised as “profound” and “simply amazing” by Wine Spectator, and are benchmarks among collectors and top sommeliers.

Now, Matt is making his name once again with Benevolent Neglect, his own wine that has quickly become one of the leading lights in California and a Wine Access member favorite. This one, the 2018 Benevolent Neglect Riesling Nelson Family Vineyards, is easily one of the most exciting and honest Rieslings we’ve tasted in a long time. Shimmering with Meyer lemon zest, white peach, honeysuckle, and chamomile, all of it sliced through with limestone minerality, this small-production white embodies everything that great Riesling aspires to be, and at an incredible value price.

In many ways, this Riesling is the perfect expression of everything that Matt has been working towards since he first fell in love with wine during an undergrad course in wine and spirits appreciation. “Top tier white wines are incredibly hard to make, and I’ve developed a serious appreciation for winemakers who get that right,” he told us. Today, it’s what he strives to do making “wine that is alive, and can express place,” under the Benevolent Neglect label.

Which he absolutely has with this incredible Riesling. It’s grown by the Nelson Family—now in their third generation working this land—on their vineyard in Mendocino. The Riesling there was planted back in 1974, which means that it’s sunk its roots deep into the soil and has attained a sense of concentration that makes it a standout in the entire state.

In Matt’s hands, he has brought to the fore both the complexity of this pristine fruit as well as its inherent energy, and the resulting tension is nothing short of amazing. That’s what he strives for with Benevolent Neglect, and what he has so brilliantly achieved with member favorites like his 2016 Las Madres Syrah from Los Carneros, which was one of the most quickly snapped-up reds we’ve offered all year.

You could say that Matt has been working toward a wine like the 2018 Benevolent Neglect Riesling Nelson Family Vineyards his entire career. But with a trajectory like his, it’s impossible to know where his journey will take him next. All we can say for sure is that the trip will be utterly delicious. This Riesling certainly is.