Winemaker Notes
#91 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2021
Very light yellow straw color. The nose is fresh and fragrant with notes of ripe white fruit, dry flowers and mineral notes. In the palate, it maintains its freshness and it is very pleasurable to drink thanks to well-balanced acidity and alcohol.Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This white shows finesse, offering generous layers of lychee, orange blossom, papaya and honey flavors that stay focused, with mineral, spice and herb underpinnings. A touch of vanilla lingers on the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The entry level white, the 2018 El Zarzal is 100% Godello that spent 8 months in French oak foudre. It's another beautifully done white from this estate that has juicy melon and pineapple fruits, plenty of spice and subtle creamy nuances, medium-bodied richness, juicy acidity, and a clean, crisp finish. It will be hard to beat as a tapas wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even if they are not quite from the Duero zone but from Bierzo, I also tasted their whites produced with Godello grapes, including the 2018 El Zarzal, which has 13% alcohol, very good acidity and low pH. It was produced with fruit from vines averaging 15 years of age, fermented in oak at controlled temperature and matured in French 2,500-liter oak foudres with the lees for eight months. It's expressive and aromatic, with some grape-pulp aromas, somewhat floral and with a spicy touch. It's varietal and clean, with integrated oak, a medium-bodied palate and a refreshing finish, serious and with a mineral twist.
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.