Bierzo Blanco, 'Ultreia Godello'

Score

92+

"2017 was the year of frost, and production was very small. So, we jumped to the entry-level white 2018 Ultreia Godello, which was produced with purchased grapes from different plots and new vineyards (including one in the zone of Ponferrada and also vineyards in Cacabelos and Valtuille), from a mix of soils, slate and clay. This sets the tone of the whites from the vintage: it has perfect ripeness, freshness and harmony and is very clean, with precision and clarity. It's subtly varietal and was fermented in used barriques and used oak foudres of different sizes. They never rack or do bâtonnage, and they never use sulfur until bottling. It's fuller and more volume, which is compensated by more acidity. The élevage lasts until the next harvest, when they need the oak containers, trying to keep them empty for the shortest amount of time possible. The wine is approachable and a bit gentler, for a wider audience. They produced 26,000 bottles. It was bottled in late August 2019."

Score

94

"For a Spaniard, godello may be the closest thing you can get to Burgundy,” said Nacho Monclús, a native of Huesca, a Spanish province on the border with France, who’s now a wine director in NYC and a panelist for our tastings. This does, in fact, have the savory intensity of a Côte d’Or wine, with its notes of bruised apple, green pear and mineral acidity. In style and sophistication, it may be more like the long-lived white wines Luis Anxo Rodríguez Vázquez produces across the mountains from Bierzo in Galicia’s Ribeiro. Whatever comparison you make, it’s beautiful, fresh, mineral-rich and well worth seeking out. "