Winemaker Notes
The nose shows aromas of ripe peach, stone fruit and bits of honeycomb and slight reminiscences of white flower. In the mouth it is very expressive and broad, spirited, with a long finish to ripe fruits, among which, the conference pear stands out.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2018 is a great vintage: The cycle was long and Godello ripened properly, so they avoided the excess bitterness on the finish, as you can see in the 2018 La Vizcaína La del Vivo. It's made the same way as in previous years: they use 500-liter oak barrels and one amphora with skins and flor that is used for the final blend. Having such perfect ripeness, the wine is very tasty, and there's no fruit but a lot more austerity—they select the vineyards (around two hectares) for that straight and austere character (there is a little bit of Doña Blanca too, which adds to the austerity). It has a saline palate and some rugosity, complex, with no room for sweetness. I think this could live 10 years and develop great complexity. In 2019, they replaced some of the barrels with a 2,500-liter oak foudre. This is the most austere and serious white in its finest vintage. A white for purists and one that is going to develop very slowly.
-
Wine & Spirits
Pérez makes this wine with his nephew César Márquez, using godello grown in clay soils, fermented with the stems and aged in French oak barrels. It’s a brisk, mineral-inflected white that opens to luscious fruit, godello’s broad texture focused by green apple and lime-like acidity. Scents of white tea, pale roses and wheat last in the savory finish. This keeps gaining clarity with air, and will continue to gain complexity with bottle age.
Godello is native to northwest Spain and has experienced a major revival in the last 20 years. Godello wines are typically sleek and lightly creamy in texture. Barrel fermentation and lees stirring are typical in Valdeorras, Spain where the grape comes from. These winemaking techniques make the most of Godello's inherent structure and help bring out its lovely floral character. Somm Secret—DNA profiling says that Spain’s Godello is actually identical to the Portugese grape variety Gouveio, which grows throughout the Douro and Dão (where it used to mistakenly be called Verdelho).
One of the few northwestern Spanish regions with a focus on a red variety, Bierzo, part of Castilla y León, is home to the flowery and fruity Mencia grape. Mencia produces balanced and bright red wines full of strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, baking spice, pepper and black licorice. The well-drained soils of Bierzo are slate and granite.