Wine of the Week 56 – a delicious and refreshing Godello

I know that Albariño gets all the fame and much of the plaudits, but in the general run of things I am much happier drinking that other great white grape from Galicia, Godello.

Albariño is a wonderful grape, but I often find that it disappoints unless it is very fine and costly. For a grape variety whose reputation is for high acidity, poise, elegance and being crisp, the cheaper versions can frequently be a bit soft and nondescript. Godello however is much more reliable and produces attractive wines at many different price points. I have always been drawn to Godello, but at the moment I seem to be liking it more and more.

What’s more, we are fortunate to have the grape at all, as Godello very nearly went extinct as a consequence of Franco’s agricultural policies – his government guaranteed prices for agricultural goods, wine amongst them. One result of this policy is that as vineyards were replanted they replaced quality grapes with grapes that produced quantity more than anything else. I assume that Rioja and Tempranillo avoided this potential fate as it already had an international market.

Godello is principally grown in the Valdeorras region of Galicia and Bierzo in Castilia y León – the 2 regions were historically both in Galicia and use the same grape varieties and have broadly the same conditions. Godello is also grown in Monterrei and Ribera Sacra to great effect.

Given that it has survived and we can now enjoy Godello, I would love for it to be more popular – and Spanish white wines in general actually, which are often very good quality indeed.

Anyway recently I tasted an excellent Godello that was delicious and great value for money, so I made it my Wine of the Week.

Map of the Wine Regions of North West Spain including Galica – click for a larger view – non watermarked PDF versions are available by agreement

Las Médulas, a World Heritage Site in Bierzo that was once the most important gold mine in the Roman Empire. Valdeorras, the Valley of Gold, gets its name form these gold mines.

2014 Bolo Mountain Wine Godello
DO Valdeorras
Galicia, Spain 

This wine is made by the great Rafael Palacios, whose brother Alvaro is one of the movers and shakers in Spain’s great Priorat region. Rafael fell in love with Godello in 1996, when it was incredibly rare – I think I am right that there were only 7 producers of it in the world by that time – and went on to piece together a 21 hectare estate of Godello grapes in the beautiful Val do Bibei high in the mountains near the village of Bolo. What he fell in love with was the bright, cool Atlantic influence, but also the extra depth and weight that Godello has over the region’s other grape varieties. He was also fortunate in that the vines he managed to get his hands on include some seriously old material, some of it nearly 100 years old. The Bolo Mountain Wine is his straightforward , unoaked take on Godello, he makes 2 more serious examples, but I still think it is a lovely wine.

A supremely fresh and lively dry white. It is light and easy to drink, even with a slight petillance on the palate, which I find very enticing.

The nose is honeysuckle and gentle peach, while the palate is soft and fresh and reminded me of some of the Swiss wines I was tasting near Montreux the other day. The acidity doesn’t dominate, so there is a softness and creaminess, but it is still very fresh with a core of minerality that gives the wine real poise and elegance. Overall the wine has a real mountain feel, there is a purity about it that I love and what’s more is is sinfully drinkable – 89/100 points.

Available in the UK for around £10 a bottle from The Wine Society. More stockist information is available from Indigo Wine.
Available in the US for around $12 a bottle, stockist information is available here.

I would urge you to try this wine, it is superb quality, great value and very versatile indeed. It is lovely as an aperitif, but equally good with fish, poultry, pork, creamy cheeses and spicy food. I think that I will drink a fair amount of it this Summer.

Wine of the Week 55 – a delicious and great value white Burgundy

If you are after a white wine with weight, succulence or viscosity as well as elegance and freshness, then white Burgundy might well be the style for you. Certainly no where else quite gets that balance between richness and acidity so right. The only problem is that most good white Burgundy nowadays is eye waveringly expensive, so I am always on the look out for great value examples.

Not long ago I was fortunate enough to taste a white Burgundy that I found really exciting and that did not overstretch the budget too much, so I made it my Wine of the Week.

Burgundy of course is one of the really great wine regions in the world, right up there with Bordeaux and Champagne. To wine beginners Burgundy – or Bourgogne to give it its proper French name – can appear very complicated and unsettling. There appears to be a lot to learn and I can well understand that many people give up and return to wines whose labels and names seem easier to understand. However, it is worth persevering as the wines of Burgundy can be sublime.

Vineyards around the southern Côte de Nuits.

The names on the labels are simply the place where the grape is from, some come from anywhere with the region and are labelled as Bourgogne, while others come from a specific district – such as Mâcon – or from a particular village – such as Meursault. If you are interested you could do worse than read my piece all about Burgundy by clicking here.

Map of Burgundy – click for a larger view – non watermarked PDF versions are available by agreement

2011 Côte de Nuits-Villages Blanc
Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand
A.C. Côte de Nuits-Villages, Burgundy, France

This tidy little estate really captures the spirit of French wine to perfection. Family owned and family run since 1899, the Désertaux family tend most of their wines around their winery in the sleepy village of Corgoloin. This is right on the border between the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune and, like nearby Comblanchien, it has no appellation of its own, but instead sells the wines as Côtes de Nuits-Villages. The Côte de Nuits is overwhelmingly red wine territory and white Côte de Nuits-Villages are rare, indeed the Désertaux family were the first people to actually sell one. The estate was founded in 1899, but sold their wines to a negociant until 1965, so the label did not exist before that date. Until recently they just farmed the 12 hectares around the winery, but have added to that in recent years with parcels in Beaune 1er Cru, Pommard, Meursault 1er Cru and Ladoix. The family also have some charming gîtes, so think of them the next time you are looking for somewhere to stay in Burgundy.

We are so often lazily told that all white Burgundy is made from Chardonnay that many people are astonished to discover that actually a fair amount of the wines also contain some Pinot Blanc – and even sometimes some Pinot Gris (or Pinot Beurot as it is known locally). That is exactly the case here though, 20% old vine Pinot Blanc lends a succulence to this wine that it would otherwise lack, while the 80% Chardonnay supplies the backbone of acidity and minerality. One third of the wine was barrel fermented and briefly aged in in new oak barrels, the rest had a cold fermentation in stainless shell tanks.

Everything about this wine works nicely. The aromas are very gently nutty and creamy together with a dash of citrus. The palate has a touch of seductive richness, some light cream, nuts and vanilla, while the texture is succulent and really caresses your palate. There is plenty of fruit too, white peach, nectarine and melon vie with each other, while the acidity has a touch of lemon about it as well as a little apricot zing. The freshness of acidity and minerality (read my piece about minerality here) keeps the wine focussed, pure and refreshing. The finish is long and elegant and the balance between richness and freshness is very good indeed – 88 points.

I think this wine is a terrific white Burgundy and would serve it with some classy fish, grilled sole if I could, or a fish pie perhaps. It would also work well with pork or chicken and would be an excellent partner to softish cheeses.

Available in the UK for around £14 a bottle from 3D Wines.
Available in the US for around $25 a bottle from K&L Wines.

 

Wine of the Week 54 – Coyam, a fine Chilean red

I love Chile, it is a very beautiful country, full of wonderful things to see Everything is dramatic and exciting, especially the mountains, lakes, desserts, glaciers and volcanoes, as being the most fantastic place to observe the night sky. Do visit if you get the chance, but if that is something that you have to put off for now, then you can always treat your self to a bottle of exciting wine from Chile.

Colchagua Valley vineyards – photo courtesy of Wines of Chile.

Chilean wine gets better all the time, more styles and more variety seems to be available with every passing year, so if Chilean wine has passed you by recently, it might be a good idea to give them another look. Not so long ago Chile was regarded above all as a safe place to buy a reliable bottle of wine from, now most people know that Chile can produce wines of world class standard that can compare to anybody else’s. I was leading a tasting on Chilean wines the other day and I showed this wine that is so delicious and so wonderful and so different  that I just had to make it my Wine of the Week.

Coyam, the animals help to create biodiversity and balance in the vineyard – photo courtesy of Wines of Chile.

Map of Chile – click for a larger view – non watermarked PDF versions are available by agreement.

2011 Coyam
Los Robles Estate, Viñedos Organicos Emiliana
D.O. Valle de Colchagua, Chile

Coyam is the brainchild of superstar Chilean winemaker Alvaro Espinoza who is the head winemaker at Viñedos Organicos Emiliana. Almost all Emilian’s vineyards are farmed organically, with the rest in transition, but the Los Robles estate is biodynamic too – Robles means oak in Spanish, while Coyam means oak in the native language. The wine is a blend, which changes every year as it reflects the vineyard, this vintage is 38% Syrah, 31% Carmenère, 19% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Mourvèdre and 1% Malbec. The grapes are harvested by hand and go through a triple selection process to ensure only the best grapes get into Coyam. Only native yeast is used for the fermentation and the wine is aged 13 months in oak barrels, 80% French and 20% American, it is only very lightly filtered.

Everything is done to make sure you get the whole wine and it shows as Coyam is a wonderfully expressive wine. The grape varieties used are a mixture of extremely fruity ones and seductively spicy ones and that is how the finished wine seems too. The colour is opaque purpley black, while the nose is vibrant and full of blackberry, rich plum, black cherry, herbs, soft spices – pepper and liquorice – vanilla, smoke, cedar wood and a touch of prune. All these aromas and more follow onto the palate, giving a barbecued meat and mushroom character, together with vivid black fruit and even some red, together with tobacco, mocha, caramel (from the oak), wild herbs and peppery spice. This is mouth filling and full-bodied, with beautifully integrated oak, loads of flavour and concentration. I love this wine and think that anyone whole likes big reds will too, however it is elegant and refined too. It isn’t just a monster and the tannins are supple and round – 91/100 points.

This is a big wine that could well repay some cellaring, as the tannins will soften – although they are quite approachable already – and the the fruit will fade allowing the complexity to develop, so there is no hurry to drink it, but it is delicious now. Try this with hearty stews, pies, roasts and strong, hard cheeses.

Available in the UK for around £18 a bottle from Tanners, Slurp, D & D Wine and Virgin Wines, while the 2010 vintage is available from The Wine Society. Further stockist information is available here.
US stockist information is available here.