I had tasted at least 70 wines that afternoon, and I couldn’t stop thinking about this one: a stealthily excellent Godello from Galicia.
Long tastings are demanding. Your mouth gets tired, your notes get scribbly, your memory gets fuzzy. Some gentler wine styles get drowned out as your palate is bombarded with oak and tannins. (Elegant, layered Spanish whites among them.)
But, sitting on a vendor table between a Bordeaux and a big Chilean blend, this wine outshone all those tall and broad-shouldered bottles.
The Godello is poured.
“Crisp, mineral, seafood, summer buyers, blah blah blah…“
[Swirl swirl swirl]
[Record scratch]
Oh…that’s really good.
Confidently (perhaps even tipsily), I declared it the Wine of the Day. To my boss, to the importer, and to anyone else who would listen. I took a bottle home to try later in a fresher state.
Tasting Almalarga Godello
High expectations–and four months of storing it nervously in the wine fridge–did not diminish Almalarga’s appeal. Persuasive aromas of pear, cantaloupe melon, honey, and honeysuckle. On the palate, creamy green apple flirts with tartness before dissolving into a glittery array of citrus and minerals.
Four months of aging on fine lees gives this Godello a lightly unctuous texture and impressive length. Freshness returns with a fragrant green-ish finish of white florals and fennel fronds.
It’s powerful without being pushy, bright without being piercing, subtle without being flimsy. A rare mid-weight white wine that’s anything but mid.
The fruit for Almalarga comes from the vineyard areas of Pantón and Quiroga, which sit high over the River Sil. The nearly vertical terraced slopes require careful hand-tending and hand-harvesting. (This is the “Viticultura Heroica” referenced on the label.) Ribeira Sacra has seen some new plantings of the trendy Godello variety, but the vines of Alma das Donas have occupied their rocky perch for more than 50 years.
A gravity rail transports the fruit quickly to the winery where it is hand-sorted and pressed. Sedimentation and fermentation take place at low temperatures, yielding a Godello of remarkable aromatic intensity.
An ultra-limited production of around 150 cases. Snap it up if you see it. 🍐🌼
Bottle: Alma das Donas “Almalarga” Ribeira Sacra Godello (2024) – Galicia, Spain
Variety: Godello (100%)
ABV: 12.5%
Suggested retail: $24
My rating: 9.3 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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