78 MAY 2020
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2018 GABA DO XIL
VALDEORRAS GODELLO ($23)
Winemaking star Telmo
Rodríguez helms this project
in Valdeorras. Together with
young winemaker Jorge Saa,
he makes this lightly peppery,
poised white from organically
farmed Godello grapes.2018 VALDESIL VALDEORRAS
GODELLO SOBRE LêAS ($23)
Valdesil owns the oldest
Godello vineyards on earth,
some dating back to 1885. With
them, they make this fragrant
white that is full of apricot,
sweet citrus, and lightly earthy
notes.2018 GODEVAL VALDEORRAS
GODELLO ($21)
The name of this Galician region,
Valdeorras, translates as “valley
of gold.” Whether or not it was
the original idea, that could now
apply to the many lightly golden
Godello wines—like this lemon-
balmy one—made here.2018 PORTAL GARNATXA
BLANCA ($20)
The promise of Spain’s Terra
Alta region is again evident in
this lime-zesty, spicy white. Old
vines, limestone soils, dry
farming, and no use of oak
barrels all contribute to its
elegant expressiveness.2019 PARƒS BALTË COSMIC
($20)
The Xarel-lo grape is one of the
three varieties used for Spain’s
sparkling Cavas, but here, wine-
makers Maria Elena Jiménez
and Marta Casas turn it into a
crisp and very appealing table
wine.2018 FILLABOA ALBARI„O
($20)
Fillaboa’s gorgeous Rías Baixas
estate rolls down to the banks of
the Tea and Miño rivers. Wine-
maker Isabel Salgado takes
advantage of that cool, misty
climate to fashion this stony,
grapefruit-scented white.2018 HERéNCIA ALTƒS
BENUFET GARNATXA
BLANCA ($18)
Peach and melon flavors are
lifted by intriguingly exotic
herbal notes in this old-vine
(very old—up to 100-plus years)
white Grenache from Spain’s
high-altitude Terra Alta region.2018 MUSTIGUILLO
MESTIZAJE BLANCO ($15)
Merseguera may be a variety
that no one in the U.S. (or even
Spain) knows well, but based on
this flinty, pear-inflected white
from the area near Valencia,
people ought to. The wine’s an
absurdly good bargain, too.AST SUMMER, while I was visiting Barcelona, I made
my way to the city’s best wine shop, Vila Viniteca,
to say hello to its owner, Quim Vila. He was about to
taste through a few wines (i.e., 20) in his office and
suggested I sit in. The majority were white, and they
were stunningly good: an eye-opening reminder that
while Spain may be known best for its red wines, right
now there’s tremendous energy and ambition to be
found there in the white wine realm, too.
Albariño is Spain’s white wine success story, but for
this column I wanted to concentrate on a few varieties
now challenging its leadership role, particularly
Garnacha Blanca and Godello. Garnacha Blanca, full-
bodied but with bright acidity and a mix of citrus and
stone-fruit flavors, grows mostly in Catalonia, in north-
eastern Spain. Godello, which at its best matches its
richness with firm minerality, grows more in Galicia,
on Spain’s western coast, in places such as Valdeorras,
Bierzo, and Ribeira Sacra. And there are many others
to delve into. Vintners in the Penedès, to the west of
Barcelona, are using the local Xarel-lo variety for
thrilling wines; the best Albariños are still among the
finest seafood-friendly wines on the planet; and other
varieties like Treixadura, Merseguera, and even Rioja’s
classic Viura shouldn’t be ignored.
I left Vila’s shop weighed down, as always, by a few
great bottles I hadn’t planned on buying, so beware: If
you try these wines, the same thing may well happen
to you, too.L
FW_0520_BottleService.indd 78 FINAL 3/17/20 3:46 PM