Our most mysterious winemaker…
His estate is located in Monterrei, a small appellation in the south of Galicia, just above Portugal. Barely 700 ha of vineyards in the entire appellation.
It is also one of the smallest estates in our portfolio.
Who are we talking about? Quinta da Muradella by José Luis Mateo. In Monterrei, he towers head and shoulders above the rest!
Read what Parker has to say about it:
“Monterrei is not only the smallest DO, but there’s also no other appellation where the very top is so clearly dominated by a single producer: Quinta da Muradella. The explanation is twofold: there are few quality producers in the region, and Quinta da Muradella is soooooo good that they seem light-years ahead of the others. If you ask other producers in Galicia who they think is the best vigneron in the region, more often than not, the answer is José Luis Mateo from Quinta da Muradella.”
José Luis, regarded as one of Galicia’s greatest winemakers, does however have one drawback: he is too modest, very introverted, and hardly speaks about his wines. In his garage in Verín, he quietly works every year to bottle masterpieces. And if you ask him a question, the answer is always in the glass…
“José Luis Mateo, considered by many to be the best vigneron in Galicia. His wines are like him: discreet, sincere and authentic. They transcend the Monterrei region, where he is way ahead of the rest—vintage, grape and everything—and the wines are usually marked by the soils, by the very place where the grapes grow.”
Just last week, I opened one of his top wines at home: the Gorvía Tinto 2006. My guests, seasoned tasters, wrote down “a beautiful evolution, probably made in 2018”. It turned out to be 2006… An astonishing wine! Juicy, fruity, almost ethereal. Very layered, mineral and refined. Exactly the kind of wine we love to drink.
And since this spring, we’ve received around 90 bottles of this nectar. Unknown, ignored by buyers…
Completely undeserved!
Just look at what is being said about the latest Gorvia Tinto 2019:
R. Parker: 94/100
“Tasting the current releases from Quinta da Muradella in Monterrei is always an exciting moment because of the quality and diversity of the wines. It’s a little like what Forrest Gump said: it’s like opening a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get! The whites are always superb, and I found the reds quite extraordinary too.
The single-vineyard red 2019 Gorvia comes from the same vineyard as the white of the same name, a south-facing slate slope near Monterrei Castle, mostly Mencía with about 5% Bastardo and Caíño Redondo. It fermented in an open stainless steel vat with destemmed grapes, stayed there for nine months, then went into used 500- and 700-liter barrels before being assembled in stainless steel until bottling. It shows a translucent color with an ethereal nose and palate, only 12.5% alcohol, pure flavors and a strong personality. 2,505 numbered bottles.
José Luis Mateo is the man behind Quinta da Muradella, the quality leader of Monterrei in Galicia. He is constantly looking for ways to improve, studying his soils, even reducing the surface of vineyards he works (some 15 hectares, all his own, farmed organically and certified since 2005, though the wines don’t carry certification) and restructuring his range to reflect the terroir more faithfully. The wines are stunningly fresh and precise, especially the whites, which is quite a challenge in a warm region. The future of his range will be regional wines (Alanda), single-vineyard wines (Gorvia, Quinta da Muradella and El Pliegue) and varietal, experimental and one-off bottlings. Average production is 35,000 bottles per year.
Highly recommended.”
Lay down 6 bottles in your cellar and
enjoy them over the next 25 years!