spanish wines - Galicia

The new top wine by Berta Garcia, who made wine at Latour and Haut Brion. The grapes come from within the estate's walls, hence the name of this cuvée, Tras Los Muros, behind the walls.

Alanda is the entry-level white wine of José Luis Mateo and showcases the range of white grape varieties he has recovered in the region. He has done remarkable work bringing these nearly forgotten varieties back into focus. All his wines are made organically. It is a typical “village wine”, with a production of around 10,000 bottles.

An Atlantic-climate wine coming from Southern Galicia. Its Burgundy, refined style is that of a different Spain.

Bastardo, aias Merenzao, is a rare Galician grape, a variant of the Trousseau from Jura. This is an authentic wine, showing a somewhat Bourguignon-approach re terroir and elegance.

Gorvia is the name of an enclave in Monterrei. The vineyard was planted by José Luis Mateo’s father in 1985 and has a southern exposure. The wines of the estate are vinified biodynamically.

The smoky and leesy 2019 Gorvia Blanco is a single-vineyard white from a classified vineyard, the first one he planted 38 years ago with trellises and later transformed to goblet. It's one hectare on a slope by the Monterrei Castle on decomposed and complex slate soils, mostly Dona Blanca with 5% Treixadura and Verdello Antiguo. It fermented in a 1,500-liter foudre and a 500-liter barrel, all used and neutral, where the wine is kept with lees for one year, then blended and put in stainless steel for one more year. It feels young and undeveloped; it's still pale and primary, with notes of herbs and fennel, crushed stones and a balanced palate with precision, delineation and purity and with a very tasty finish. The variety is considered quite neutral but does reflect the character of the place quite faithfully ... at least when worked like this! Bravo! 2,500 numbered bottled were filled in November 2021.

This wine is named after a small enclave in the D.O. Monterey: Govia. The estate's wines are all farmed biodynamically.

This wine is named after a small enclave in the D.O. Monterey: Govia. The estate's wines are all farmed biodynamically.

José Luis Mateo's personal creation: he has revived a long forgotten white grape, the Monstruosa de Monterrei, which he had found in his vines. He then replanted some 750 plants of it in a small vineyard. Monstruosa refers to “monstrous” grapes, in this case showing balanced acidity and a structure that promises many years of ageing potential.

With this wine, José Luis Mateo has accomplished a tour de force and a première, recuperating the Verdello Antiguo, an old clone of Godelllo from the Monterrei heights. This wine has more tension than your usual Godello.

Rafael's wine adventure all started with this As Sortes. He wanted to produce one wine, and that's all. And no doubt this wine is at the top of the Valdeorras wines, and white Spanish wines also. "As Sortes" is an old Galician administrative term which refers to a lottery system supposed to avoid too much division of hearted lands.

The signature wine of white-wine master Rafael Palacios. It shows what Godello is truly capable of. A pure example of minerality and balance, with a perfect expression of the granite peaks of Valdeorras.

The signature wine of white-wine master Rafael Palacios. It shows what Godello is truly capable of. A pure example of minerality and balance, with a perfect expression of the granite peaks of Valdeorras.

Sorta Antiga comes from the oldest and the most spectacular of Rafa's vineyards- he names it "the Montrachet of Valdeorras". The parcel is only 0,24 ha. Only bush vines, planted in 1920. The soil is covered with straw, to avoid erosion of the powdery granit. Thos Godello is something apart in Rafa's range. Darker, due to the skin-contact maceration - a tannic white, the orange wine by Rafael Palacios.

Sorte O Soro is Rafael Palacios' first Grand Cru in the Bibei valley in Valdeorras. This is definitely one of Spain's absolute top wines and the nec plus ultra of the Godello. Sourced from one of his best parcels "O Soro", The result in the glass is a tighter Godello in its youth with plenty of fraîche, complexity and structure. Everything the greatest white wine should have in the house is found in this bottle.

Sorte O Soro is Rafael Palacios' first Grand Cru in the Bibei valley in Valdeorras. This is definitely one of Spain's absolute top wines and the nec plus ultra of the Godello. Sourced from one of his best parcels "O Soro", The result in the glass is a tighter Godello in its youth with plenty of fraîche, complexity and structure. Everything the greatest white wine should have in the house is found in this bottle.

Another first-born from Raúl: for the first time he has vinified a wine in Ribeira Sacra, an extremely difficult region where Spanish reds are not always the easiest to drink. Here it’s a different story: this is, without doubt, the best wine ever made in this region.