2015 Laura Lorenzo-Daterra Viticultores, Godello, Alto de Olaia, Valdeorras, Galicia Spain.
I was so excited by Laura Lorenzo’s red recently, I just could not help myself and had to open and the review her white as soon as I could, and her Godello from Valdeorras is a stunning and vibrant white, easily matching my expectations! As mentioned prior Laura is just getting her own wines out there after almost 10 years at Dominio do Bibei, and her current set of releases are amazing, with her attention to detail and organic/natural methods these wines show a fantastic inner energy and class, this white especially has a real white Burgundy feel and style about it, but still shines as pure terroir expression of Godello, Lorenzo is a huge talent on the rise! The granite, gravel and sand in the soils really allow expressive character to show in the Alto de Olaia and at 680 meters above sea level it is a cool climate, which allows the lively acidity to flourish, tiny yields and obvious careful sorting results in vibrant layers of concentration and remarkable texture, this is gorgeous stuff and a very worthy prey to hunt down. Using native yeasts and neutral casks, no fining or filtration and very low sulfur Lorenzo’s handcrafted wines are transparent and unadorned, in particular this Godello, which starts with white flowers, lemon zest, hints of saline, verbena and lime creme, it opens nicely on the palate to reveal green apple, kiwi, white peach and more bitter citrus notes, it fills out and has a generous mouth feel, almost opulent, but mineral driven with wet flinty stones and zesty spice, it reminds me of a fine Premier Chablis in style, though with it’s Galician soul intact! You need to add Laura Lorenzo and her Daterra Viticultores label to a short, but ever growing list of must try wines from this region, with her wines imported by Jose Pastor Selections. Lorenzo joins Luis Rodriguez, Nanclares, Guimaro and Vina Mein in an elite group of artisan producers that are making awesome world class wines from this north west corner of Spain, this might be the most exciting area in Europe right now! Drink this lovely Godello Alto de Olaia over the next 3 to 5 years, with another year in bottle it should get deeper and more luxurious, but I love it right now fresh and vivid, and don’t forget her Mencia based reds.
($28 Est.) 92+ Points, grapelive