Winemaker Notes
The Godello is from three sites in the village of Valtuille de Abajo, though 90% of the fruit in this vintage actually comes from one north-facing site. The ultimate focus here is on preserving acidity, so this wine is picked on the knife edge of ripeness.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2020 was a very good year for whites, and they harvested very early. The 2020 Ultreia Godello shows restraint and very low pH (3.2!) with high acidity (6.6 to 6.8). None of the whites go through malolactic, and this is the freshest vintage of this wine so far. This is now made with mostly own grapes from Cacabelos and Ponferrada (in 2022 they will own around 80% of the vineyards used for this wine), matured in a mixture of barriques, oak foudres and some concrete. It's super tasty, mineral and finishes dry.
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.