Godeval Godello Blanco

The Galician company Bodegas Godeval produces their wines today with the same effort and commitment with which they began, 30 years ago, to recover the white variety godello, under the Valdeorras Apellation. At its facilities, located in the historic setting of Xagoaza (O Barco), began their recovery godello variety project in the 80s, using part of Monastery of Xagoaza, a medieval building, as a winery and planting own vineyards, to control everything in the wine process and follow the idea of "that wine is made in the vineyard". Over time and for continue coveringtheir customer demands, they increased its plantations and also the facilities. The new winery has been designed to become a viewpoint to the valley, which combines tradition and modernity.

The winery has been expanding its plantations over the years but always following the same philosophy of looking for slate soils with slopes and south orientation. First vineyards were planted between the 70s and 80s by the founders of the winery, on the slopes with steeper features of the region in the area of Xagoaza. The average age of the vine plants is above 15 years. A good part of the vineyards are oriented towards the South, thus ensuring the sunstroke that leads to a perfect maturation. The inclination of the ground and the slaty floor guarantee a good ventilation and health of the grapes. From the first vineyards planted on plots such as "Liebres" and "Pancho" wines are made with very special characteristics such as the Godeval Cepas Vellas and the Godeval Revival.

Godello,

The soil in which the vines are located comes from Ordova­cicas slates. It is a substrate as characteristic as suitable, because it retains little water, facilitating drainage, and therefore stimulating a great development of the root system in depth. The dark tones of these soils work out well the absorption of solar radiation, and accumulate a heat that is released at night, propitiating a proper ripening of the fruit and sometimes producing mists that are beneficial.

All these properties provide an excellent development of the vine and, in short, allow to obtain wines of great complexity and high expression.

Grapes undergo a cool maceration is for 10-15 days to extract aromas and colour. The must ferments with the skins for about 7 days, and during fermentation the wine is over-pumped, to aerate and soften the wine. It is then aged for 4 months in new 225 litre French oak casks.

Green tinge colour with nacreous glints. It possesses an excellent and powerful bouquet. It is deep, elegant and reminiscent of beeswax, wild flowers & orchard fruits such as green apple and pear. On the palate it is light, soft and pleasant with a refreshing salinity and a touch of anise. The sharp and sweet touch of this wine makes it very personal and balanced, with a marked structure.

Great with prawns or langoustines. Stands up nicely to a touch of chilli so works well with Gambas Pil Pil. Bacon and piquillo peppers or a chunk of aged Manchego cheese.

Nolan - Text from the Spotlight on White Wines of Spain Blog

Albarino gets all the attention, but it is Godello that is my personal favourite Galician grape. If you are searching for Godello, keep an eye out for Valdeorras, where this delicious wine from Godeval comes from. I have never had a wine from Valdeorras that was less than excellent!

The mountainous region of Valdeorras is reputed to be the birthplace of Godello. Valdeorras itself is one of the gateways to Galicia, being sandwiched between Ribera Sacra to the West and Bierzo, part of Castilla Y Leon, to the East. As Galicia's most inland region, the climate here is more continental than that of Rias Baixas, with warmer summers and chillier, less mild winters, though there is still a small amount of oceanic influence from the Atlantic moderating the summer temperatures. The drier climate in Valdeorras is a benefit for Godello over the wetter climates out towards the coast, as the grape bunches are made up of very small, tightly packed berries. Smaller berries pack a lot more flavour than large berries but these tightly packed bunches make the grapes more susceptible to rot in wetter conditions.

Bodegas Godeval could not be situated in a more picturesque location. The winery itself is in part of the medieval Monastery of Xagoaza, with the organically farmed vineyards grown in the immediate surroundings. The soils are composed of dark Ordovacicas slate which absorbs solar heat and radiates it back into the vineyard at night, aiding ripening, similar to the effect in the best gravel sites of the Medoc in Bordeaux and the black slate soils of the Mosel valley in Germany.

The wine itself is aged for four months in French oak barrels to add extra complexity. The flavours range from florals to apples, beeswax to pear, all with an underlying salty minerality. This was a wine we had on by the glass for a while on a previous menu and some of customers visibly found it is lip smackingly delicious!