Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The outstanding 2012 Louro is a blend of 92% Godello and 8% Treixadura aged five months in large wood foudres. The fruit came from 10-60-year-old vines and low yields, which is reflected in the wine’s intensity. Notes of honeyed citrus and wet rocks are followed in this medium-bodied, dry, perfumed wine with laser-like precision. It offers a delicious unadulterated, unmanipulated, unoaked style of wine.
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).
Just to the south of Bierzo, the steeply terraced Valdeorras Spanish wine region is a respected source of both red and white wines. Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) and Mencía are the principal red varieties while Godello and Palomino compose the majority of this region's whites.