Rafael Palacios As Sortes Godello 2014
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Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 As Sortes blends Godello grapes from seven plots planted with old vines ranging from 40 to 96 years of age. The 2014s have a good combination of low pH and ripeness, so they should age beautifully. The must fermented in 500-liter French oak barrels with indigenous yeasts and matured in contact with the fine lees for some six months. It's still very young, a little creamy from its upbringing, and it will be much better with one more year in bottle. Palacios tells me the weather conditions were somehow similar to 2011 with some rains before the harvest and a soft summer that allowed for a slow, perfect ripening of the grapes while keeping very good levels of acidity. That really shows in the wine, which has great precision, lace-like, very focused, with deep flavors and pungent, sharp acidity and minerality. It has a great combination of power and elegance. This should be a long lived As Sortes. 22,400 bottles produced and filled in May 2015.
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Rafael Palacios began his wine project in Valdeorras in 2004, purchasing mature vineyards of the indigenous Godello variety from older local growers. His previous experience in the area as a consultant had motivated him to try and recuperate the unique sub-zone of the Bibei Valley in the Municipality of O Bolo.
The extreme topography and the low productivity of the soil had led to the almost complete abandonment of grape production in this tiny but historic county, cultivated traditionally on terraces. The predominance of small plots is the result of inheritances drawn by lot, often out of a hat, called "Sorte" in the Galician language and the inspiration for the name As Sortes.
Godello is native to northwest Spain and has experienced a major revival in the last 20 years. Godello wines are typically sleek and lightly creamy in texture. Barrel fermentation and lees stirring are typical in Valdeorras, Spain where the grape comes from. These winemaking techniques make the most of Godello's inherent structure and help bring out its lovely floral character. Somm Secret—DNA profiling says that Spain’s Godello is actually identical to the Portugese grape variety Gouveio, which grows throughout the Douro and Dão (where it used to mistakenly be called Verdelho).
Just to the south of Bierzo, the steeply terraced Valdeorras Spanish wine region is a respected source of both red and white wines. Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) and Mencía are the principal red varieties while Godello and Palomino compose the majority of this region's whites.