Lagar da Xestosa Godello & Mencia Monterrei D.O. Galicia Spain

Lagar da Xestosa Godello & Mencia Monterrei D.O. Galicia Spain

Lagar da Xestosa is a joint venture between Adegas Pazo das Tapias (the winery) and “The Wine Searchers”, Ramon Romero & Eric Miller, two wine aficionados, passionate about Spanish wines, who recently decided to put together an importing/distributing company in Maryland, in order to share their passion and their finds. Their office in Spain is registered at Puente La Reina, a commune of the Navarra region, south of San Sebastian.

Lagar da Xestosa, which comes in both red made from Mencia and white from Godello grapes, the two classical Galician grapes, is produced and bottled by Adegas Pazo das Tapias, a winery located close to the northern boundary of Portugal, in Pazos, a village on the west outskirt of Verin, Galicia.

Located in the northwestern corner of Spain, above Portugal, Galicia produces some of the driest and most exquisite white wines in Spain, as well as some great, very enjoyable reds resembling in structure and texture to some of the Cabernet Franc based reds from the Loire Valley in France; yet with a bit more fruit and softer, better integrated tannins. Galicia benefits of an oceanic climate, which is ideal for the production of whites, more especially when it comes to the 2 most famous and established Galician grapes: Albariño and Godello.

Galicia is composed of relatively low mountains and rolling hills without sharp peaks, where many rivers run down relatively gentle slopes in narrow river valleys, though at times their courses become far more rugged as in the canyons of the Sil River, Galicia's second most important river after the Miño. Topographically, a remarkable feature of Galicia is the presence of many firth-like inlets along the coast, estuaries that were drowned with rising sea levels after the ice age. These are called Rías and are divided into the smaller Rías Altas ("High Rías"), and the larger Rías Baixas ("Low Rías"); the region responsible for the success of the Albariño grape variety.

Outside of Rías Baixas along the west coast, Galicia also encompasses other wine regions all along the way toward the neighboring ancient kingdom of Castilla y León, respectively from west to east (and south to north): Ribeiro, Monterrei, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras and Bierzo. In these DO(s), Godello is preferred to Albariño, because it is more adapted to the type of soil and climate inland to produce white of very good quality.

Adegas Pazo das Tapias is located in Pazo, a village on the outskirt of Verin, in the Monterrei D.O. (Denominación de Origen). Monterrei is a Spanish DO (Denominación de Orixe in Galician) for wines located in the southeast corner of the Ourense province in (Galicia, Spain). Monterrei DO covers the municipalities of Verín, Monterrei, Oimbra and Castrelo do Val. Long a neglected DO, Monterrei experienced a renaissance in the mid-2000s, which revived the appellation and triggered the curiosity of critics and amateurs from all around the world.

In 2006, the Mendez family, strong of 40 years of world class winemaking experience, bought the winery, Adegas Pazo das Tapias, and its vineyards. Pazo dasTapias is nestled in the middle of its own vineyard, and encompasses probably some of the best vineyards of the appellation due to the age and healthiness of the vines.

The vineyard was planted in the early80's with innovative techniques and only two indigenous grape varieties: Godello and Mencia. The vineyard shows clearly two different types of soil, sandy slope planted with Godello, where the bright soil and reflections from the quartz maximize the concentration of the Godello; and areas planted with Mencia reaching perfect phenolic ripeness indicate the great potential to develop breeds and stocks with these grapes. Combined with hard and rigorous work in the vineyard and taking in consideration the excellent location of the vineyard, the winery can only provide excellent quality grapes.

The Bodega’s current capacity of production is 350,000liters, which receive adequate treatment with state-of-the-art technology, including: modern pneumatic presses, fermentation in stainless steel tanks, and a range of French oak barrels from the forest of Allier, into which the Bodega experiences different ageing processes for the Mencia reds.

The climate of the D.O. Monterrei can be summarized as a mixture of continental and Atlantic climate, with generous rain fall throughout the year, very hot days in summer and very cold days in winter. Monterrei is the warmest and driest appellation within Galicia. Its vineyards sit between 396-500 meters (1300-1650 feet) above sea level on the Duero river basin and benefit from its ideal wine growing climate conditions.

The Bodega’s vineyard area totalizes more than10 hectares of vines, planted at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level. The average climate temperature during the year is about 12.60 degrees Celsius, which is quite ideal and consistent. And the average number of hours of sunshine per year is about 2700 hours, which is perfect to reach appropriate ripeness.



2009 Lagar da Xestosa Godello Monterrei Galicia Spain
Suggested retail price $12-$15
Imported/distributed by Romero & Miller in NYC

Made with 100% Godello vinified in stainless steel tanks, grown on sandy-quartz filled slopes that reflect and broaden the sun's rays, maximizing the intensity of the fruit.

Behind its pale yellow-greenish color, the nose is clean and fresh, with zesty aromas of white fruit, tropical fruit, lime and lemon with floral and mineral notes. The palate is super crisp, light, bright yet fairly silky with excellent structure, harmony and enhancing acidity, nicely carrying the fruit toward the lingering finish. Great aperitif, also pairs well with salads, cheese, light rice dishes and seafood.




2009 Lagar da Xestosa Godello Monterrei Galicia Spain
Suggested retail price $12-$15
Imported/distributed by Romero & Miller in NYC

Made from 100% Mencia grapes vinified in stainless steel tanks, grown on sandy-quartz filled slopes that are composed of clay sediments, quartz and sand. The soil is porous and drains water well. It reflects and broadens the sun's rays, maximizing the intensity of the fruit.

It presents a dark ruby color. The nose is beautiful, elegant and expressive, developing aromas of ripe blueberry and blackberry with earthy, floral, purple flowers notes. The palate is extremely juicy, clean, soft and integrated, really well crafted, long and elegantly fruit forward, with earthy, lightly green hints. A crowd pleaser like the white, it will certainly satisfy Cabernet Franc drinkers and agreeably surprise others. Versatile and neither too light or to heavy, it is a good go to food friendly red wine for any occasion.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

Info partly taken and edited from the importer website at http://romeromiller.com and taken and edited and translated from the winery website at www.pazodastapias.com


Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic, Biologique and Organic wines and spirits and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe! Also follow projects and products from the Fair Trade, an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Also support 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. "Commerce Equitable" or "Fair Trade" is evidently and more than ever a needed movement connecting producers and customers, to be aware of others and their cultural and traditional products based on high quality, natural components and craftsmanship

Galicia & 2009 Ladera Sagrada Castelo do Papa Godello Valdeorras Spain

Galicia Northwestern part of Spain

Although Spain is massively known for its ocean of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Monastrell based red wines; this beautiful country also offers a wide array of tasteful white wines.

To name a few of my favorites, I highly recommend you to discover the delightful, crisp and slightly fizzy Txakoli from the Basque country made with the ever difficult to remember Hondarribi Zuria grape; the Sauvignon-like style of the Rueda made with Verdejo; the still undiscovered white Rioja made with Viura; and the light and refreshing Penedès and Ampurda-Costa Brava whites made from various grapes like: Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo, Moscatel, Xarel-lo, Chardonnay and even Gewürztraminer.

If you really enjoy white wines, you will find some of the most refreshing and exquisite whites Spain has to offer all along the coast from Donastia-San Sebastian in the Basque country to Santiago de Compostella and Pontevedra on the western shores of Galicia, the greenest northwestern region of Spain.

One of the most famous and now firmly established on the US ground is a light, crisp and racy wine made predominantly from the Albariño grape variety in the region of Rias Baixas. While the different sub-zones (within Rias Baixas) express subtle differences, the wines all share a number of characteristics. Boasting a pale golden lemon color, they are all crisp, elegant and fresh. Bone-dry and aromatic, these wines are packed with flavors of white peach, apricot, melon, pineapple, mango and honeysuckle. They have good natural acidity, mineral overtones, and are medium-bodied with moderate alcohol, usually about 12%.

Rias Baixas have been selling fantastically over the last 10-15 years and in the meantime wineries burgeoned to favor the demand and increase the different styles. Although sold all year long, being so versatile, light and vivid, Rias Baixas Albariño slowly became a prime choice to complement summer aperitif, lunch and dinner.

Further east, a few kilometers far from the Atlantic coast and Rias Baixas, is located a lesser known appellation called Ribeiro, also producing interesting whites but also some reds. White wine represents about 80% of the wine produced, and is most produced with the Treixadura variety, which is native to the area. Other authorized white varieties mostly used for Galician whites are: Albariño, Godello, Torrontés, Loureira, Macabeo and Albillo.

Even further east, nestled between Ribeiro to the west, Ribeira Sacra to the north and Bierzo, its Castilla Y Leon counterpart to the east, the Valdeorras appellation resides as the bridge guardian between the two ancient kingdoms, at the easternmost boundaries of Galicia.

Valdeorras, whose name means “Valley of Gold”, may have been the first grape growing and wine-producing region in Galicia. After the ancient Romans had finished mining the area for gold, they planted vines and the wines produced were mentioned in several inscriptions in Latin.

Remember that we need to be eternally grateful to the Romans for spreading their knowledge and experience of viticulture everywhere they went. Already existing centuries before them and improved by the Egyptians and the Greeks, the domestic wine culture has we know it today as really started and rapidly expanded with them.

Did you ever realize that the Roman's Empire extended only to countries where they could grow vines and make wines? No? Well check again, it seems that viticulture and wine were so much part of their everyday drinking and culinary culture and festivities, that it will have been useless for them to invade a country where they couldn’t produce the delectable juice.

And in fact, if you study a Roman Empire map, they didn't... They pretty much occupied all the best wine-growing European areas, which encompasses all the countries around the Mediterranean Sea, and also logically conquered the "cradle of all wine" around the Caspian Sea and in Mesopotamia, but also all the northern part of Africa! Think about it…

However, let’s go back to Galicia and Valdeorras. Like many wine regions in Europe, Valdeorras saw a decline of wine production during the Middle Ages where only monks and locals were really committed to viticulture and cultivation of the Godello grape, which, once strongly planted, was slowly denigrated and replaced by Palomino. Here again like most of European appellations, the region had to wait until the 19th century to experience a true renaissance.

Yet the Phylloxera, which devastated most European vineyards between late 1860 and mid 1930, left the Valdeorras region on its knees and the Godello grape almost forgotten.

It is only in the 20th century, after generations of trials and experiences, around the 70s, that the native Godello white grape variety was reinvigorated and became the focus and pride of the Valdeorras region. Consequently as a reward for its efforts to maintain high quality and consistency within a characteristic and defined environment, climate and delimited area, the region was elevated to the rank of appellation in 1977, becoming Valdeorras DO (Denominación de Origen or Denominación de Orixe in Galician).

Nowadays, Valdeorras DO produces mainly red based with Garnacha Tintorera and the white Palomino grape. Yet for the past 10-15 years, Bierzo’s pride, the Mencìa red grape, and Godello, Valdeorras recurring white grape, have made a stronger impression and have gain ground in the US market due to the fruity and easy drinking red and complex, mineral and extremely food friendly white wines, that they respectively produce.

It is in this up-and-coming region that Ladera Sagrada produces Castelo do Papa Godello. After Bodegas Godeval, which has always been one of my favorite Valdeorras winery, I’d like to share with you this newfound Godello based wine.

Ladera Sagrada Castelo do Papa Valdeorras Spain

Founded in 1920, Ladera Sagrada is a winery located in the mountain town of Larouco, about 90 kilometers east of Ourense in Galicia, nestled at 1749 feet of altitude (about 534 meters).

The owner, Jose Sotos, possesses about 62 acres (25 hectares) of vineyards planted with Godello and Mencía grapes. Jose Sotos and Albino Fernandez, his vineyard manager and assistant winemaker make 2 wines: “Castelo do Papa Godello” and “Castelo do Papa Mencía” (Castelo do Papa means “Castle of the Pope”).

Although, more inland than Rias Baixas and Ribeiro, Valdeorras benefits of an Atlantic climate, with average temperatures from April to October of 57.2 º F (among the lowest temperatures in Spain) and about 13 inches of rainfall which is quite low for this area.

The high altitude and the cool temperatures provide a longer ripening period, which results in more aromatic, more mineral and fresher wines. Its low level of rainfall helps the grape by preventing night frost produced by rain-humidity.

The mountainous soil is composed of slate stone, granite and thin clay layered in its topsoil and subsoil. This soil profile is poor in organic matter yielding 6 pounds (2.5 kg) of grapes per vine, compare to the average of 17 pounds (7.5 kg) per vine in Valdeorras.

The granite and slate soil surface warms up during the day, releasing and thus providing heat to the roots at night when temperatures are cooler, which helps the grapes to keep ripening. Its lower yields result in more concentrated grapes providing more flavor intensity to the wines made by Jose Sotos.

The success of the wines produced by Ladera Sagrada and crafted by Jose Sotos, is a combination of: the balance between the different soils and microclimate, allowing for fresh, intense Godello and Mencía wines; and the fact that it a family run winery which give more control over the quality of grapes and the resulting wines. It is also coming from the fact that Papa Godello doesn’t undergo malolactic fermentation achieving consequently greater aromatic expression and freshness. Yet the remaining key factor is surely one of the most important: 90% of the vines are 25+ year old, which confers great complexity and depth to the wines.



Ladera Sagrada Castelo do Papa Godello Valdeorras Spain
Suggested retail price $14-17
Imported / Distributed by Olé Imports in NYC

The 2009 Castelo do Papa was crafted with 100% old vines Godello (25+ years) vinified in stainless steel tanks, with no malolactic fermentation. Approximately 1,800 cases were made, with roughly half sent to the US market.

2009 was across the board, like 2005 and 2003, both literally and metaphorically, a very “hot” vintage in Europe. In my opinion, it produced fatter, more opulent wines, which for some regions and producers translated more into over-ripeness and predominance of alcohol than complexity or refinement. Yet here again, this is a discussion that will take more than a post to discuss…

As a result of the hotness of the 2009 vintage, the 2009 Castelo do Papa Godello is fatter and rounder than I though it will be, with more fruit weight and soft edges rather than the usual fresh and racy Godello whites that I previously tasted, especially the 2006 and 2007 vintages.

This 2009 Castelo do Papa Godello is really aromatic, almost tropical, with pineapple, mango and lime notes accentuated by firm minerals and herbal hints. The expanding palate is quite fat and full yet really clean and intriguing, showing great coating minerality, adding more dimension to the pineapple, yellow fruit juice and lemon zest flavors. Fairly bright and juicy with a good amount of oily glycerin, the long finish possesses enough acidity to balance the layers of pear, pineapple, citrus and light buttered rounded notes. It has tremendous complexity and generous mouth-feel for the price. The fatness is surely due to the 2009 vintage, but also to the old vines factor and may be the fact that this wine may have spent a bit of time on its lees before bottling.

Overall, even without Malolactic fermentation, it feels really rounded and soft. I like this wine quite a bit, but I need to admit that previous vintage like 2007 corresponded more to my palate due to higher acidity and freshness with brighter fruit and purer minerality sensation. Yet it remains a great value and a go to food friendly wine. Pair it with fish in sauce or grilled. Its fatness allows it to complement more complex dishes with white meat and poultry cooked in a Mediterranean style with garlic, herbs and mixed vegetables.

Enjoy!

Ledom du Vin

Info about the winery partly taken and edited from the importer website at www.oleimports.com

Info about Rias Baixas partly taken and edited from the DO website at www.riasbaixaswines.com

Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic, Biologique and Organic wines (and spirits and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe! Also follow projects and products from the Fair Trade, an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Also support 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide.

2007 Godeval Godello Galicia Spain

Vina Godeval Godello Valdeorras Galicia Spain

I discovered this wine a few years ago and never stop drinking it since then. I especially enjoyed the last two vintages 2006 and 2007. In any cases, the fresher and younger it is, like most Galician whites, the better it is. Unoaked Albarino and other fresh whites from Rias Baixas and Ribeira are also very fine examples of what this little-Brittany-like region of Spain can produce.

Coming from Galicia, forming the northwestern part of Spain above Portugal, this wine was crafted with the indeginous local white grape: Godello. It is the main white grape variety of the D.O. Valdeorras, a little pocket size wine appellation located in the southeastern part of Galicia. Valdeorras is neighbouring the D.O. Bierzo, another appellation that I 'm very fond of, producing balanced Cabernet-Franc-like reds with the Mencia grape, located eastern part of Leon, Castilla y Leon.

"Founded in 1987, Godeval not only resurrected the ruins of the 12th century Monastery of San Miguel de Xagoaza where the winery is located but also resurrected the all but forgotten ancient varietal Godello. Stone rooms that once housed gallant medieval knights and weary pilgrims are now home to a state of the art cellar. The estate owned vineyards are located high on a ridge that dominates the valley. The slate soils lend a unique minerality to this crisp wine which is a perfect accompaniment for seafood and fresh shellfish." Info taken from the label.

I'm in love with Galician whites, fresh, vivid, crispy and loaded with minerality, they are my first choice in white with white Burgundy, some white Pessac-Leognan and Graves, Loire whites (from Muscadet to Chenin Blanc to Sauvignon and more), German and Alsacian Riesling, Austrian Gruner and the racy Txakolina of the Basque coast near San Sebastian (again in Spain, I just love Spain....friendly people, good wine, good food, sunny weather, open minded on culture, art and design, etc...but this subject will take an entire new post...).




2007 Vina Godeval Godello Valdeorras Galicia Spain
Suggested retail price $16-$19
A Jorge Ordonez Selections distributed in NYC by Tempranillo Inc.

Godeval 2007 was a real revelation for me when I first tasted it and it remains one of my favorite whites from Spain. It has beautiful balance, bright acidity and great minerality which confer to this wine a very inviting sense of purity and freshness. They is no season to drink it. It will always quench your thirst and enhance your meal, whether you're eating grilled fish, seasoned shellfish and even white meat in sauce. It is ideal for any occasion and I have yet to meet somebody that disliked it.

Enjoy! (I personally drink it like water...).

LeDom du Vin

For more info go to their website at: www.godeval.com