Go Godello

Back in July, I was invited by Wine & Spirits to participate in a wine tasting. They chart their wine ratings slightly differently from other wine magazines, who typically keep things pretty insular. They invite two or three outsiders to join them in sampling a batch of wines, and the ratings are derived from the combined opinions of those present.

I was in attendance, happily, for a tasting of Spanish Albarinos and Portuguese Vihno Verdes. Good for me. I love those wines. We tasted many a good example during the afternoon, but the only time we all voted in favor of a wine was when a Godello was served. Godello's a little known grape native to the same basic area at Albarino, which it resembles in many respects: rich, aromatic, viscous.

Wish I could recall the name of the Godello we rated so highly. But when I saw a bottle soon after in a store, I snatched it up. It was a Vina Godeval Cosecha 2007. It was splendid. It had a nose of lemon, honey and flowers. Lemon, line, gooseberry, grass and white flowers hit the palate. Nice mineral edge. Vibrant acidity. Just a great little white, a pleasure to the senses.

Godeval made its first Godello in 1986 and had something to do with saving this grape, which almost went extinct in the 1970s. Good save!