Valtuille Godello 2020Castro Ventosa (Raúl Pérez) - 75 cl.

There is a little more oak in the 2020 Valtuille Godello, because they purchased some new 500-liter oak barrels and that's a difference with the 2019. The destemmed grapes were pressed without any maceration, and the juice fermented in 500- and 700-liter French oak barrels where the wine matured with the lees and without bâtonnage for one year. This bottling is a selection of the best barrels, and the rest goes to the blend for the El Castro de Valtuille. It's a little flinty and smoky, a little à la Bourgogne, with some balsamic notes, round and complete, with very tasty flavors and great balance. It's a little riper than the 2019 I tasted next to it, but it also feels deeper and just one step above in everything. This might be the finest white produced here so far. 1,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2021.
At Castro Ventosa they are separating the plots to have more precision, and they have a new top-of-the-range red called La Vitoriana. The wines have less alcohol, less ripeness and less oak, and they are cleaner and more focused. They own 80 to 85 hectares from the 500 hectares in the village of Valtuille, so they don't buy a single grape (and they don't sell any either). For César Márquez, who likes 2018, thinks 2019 is more serious, keeping the freshness (perhaps with more structure), a more complete year. 2020 had a warmer summer and saw an early harvest, and the result is better than he expected. It's a warm vintage but not as warm as 2017. I see many similar opinions in Bierzo. However, the 2020 whites felt one notch above the 2019s...