In the southwestern portion of Spain, north of the Portuguese border, is the Spanish wine region of Bierzo. Outside the village of Cacebelos is Bodegas Godelia and their eighty-six acres of estate vineyard on decomposed quartzite and slate soil. They also have thirty-seven acres farmed under contract. I'm reviewing two of their wines this weeks: the 2015 Godello-Doña Blanco and the 2012 Mencia.
Godelia considers themselves an artisan winery. All of their grapes are harvested by hand and chilled for twenty-four to fourty-eight hours at 23°F. The white grapes are pressed while still semi-frozen, while the reds are cold-soaked and destemmed first.
This white is a blend of 80% Godello from twenty to forty year old vines, and 20% Doña Blanco from seventy to ninety year old vines; both local white varietals. Godello was once almost gone forever a few decades ago (read "Revisiting Godello, a Grape That Spain Has Rescued") until a recent resurgence. Doña Blanco is also grown in Portugal as Dona Branca, and its thick skin makes these Maritime climates such a great match for it.
The 2015 Godello-Doña Blanco has an ABV of 13.5% and is a pale yellow in color. Man, getting lots of basic pale yellow whites lately. Can somebody send me something more like a deep gold for once? Sheesh! Anyways... the first aroma I get on the nose is Tic-Tac shell, and then there's white peach, lemon, and vanilla. Such a lively character on the nose, letting you know you're in for some fun.
On the palate... SUCCULENT LEMON! But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's medium bodied with what I think would be a creamy mouthfeel if it wasn't pushed aside by such an aggressively tart acidity. And... STRAIGHT-UP SUCCULENT LEMON! Goddamn, it's so good! Fun and juicy and alive! And DANGEROUS! I could probably down this whole bottle in five minutes. And here's the thing: it's not some low quality thirst quencher that you can down in five minutes. Those are awesome too. This is a damn good quality thirst quencher that you can down in five minutes.
I love this. I don't want it to end. I want a case of this stuff right now. I want to pour it in a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and eat it until I pass out. PERFECT SCORE! Mark it up!
QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $17
Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)
The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
The bottle used was supplied free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
0 comments:
Post a Comment