Godello

Where our Godello grows

Much of our Godello comes from the slate slopes of the Ribeira Sacra, from Algueira and Ronsel do Sil. In Bierzo, Sangarida makes Godello from Campo, Molinaseca and San Lorenzo del Bierzo. In the Ribeiro, Coto de Gomariz bottles Godello grown on sábrego, a mix of granite sand and clay. Carlos Carballo presses his Viña Aurita Blanco 2022 with the stems and makes it like a red wine, malolactic fermentation included; there are 159 bottles of it.

What Godello tastes like

Godello has more body than most whites from the Atlantic and ends with a fine bitter note, at Algueira as at Ronsel do Sil. When the wine spends time in wood or longer on its lees, it turns creamy and still keeps its acidity. Next to an Albariño, Godello comes across broader and less floral. With grilled fish we therefore prefer it to Albariño.

Brandán and Escalada

• Algueira Brandán 2024: Godello from slate, fermented with wild yeast in steel tanks, no wood and no lees ageing, around 22,000 bottles.
• Algueira Escalada 2009: Godello from south-west-facing slate sites, fermented with wild yeast in used 750-litre chestnut and French oak casks on its full lees, then seven months in steel; 2,500 bottles.

Godello over the years

The Escalada lets you follow what time does to Godello. The 2023 is pale gold and dense, the 2009 deep gold with amber glints. After more than ten years, honey, dried apricot and roasted nuts appear, and the acidity keeps the wine fresh. Serve young Godello at 8 to 11 degrees and older bottles a touch warmer. We stock the Escalada in the 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2022 and 2023 vintages.