WTN: Good Godello, Superb Saumur

My plan for my dinner Saturday was soft shell crab (from local fishmonger)with pasta, but my shopping took me elsewhere. Stew Leonards only had fried softshells, so I got one of those*  plus a grouper filet to cook. Had both with some baby bok choy with mushrooms, leftover eggplant with peanut sauce, and the 2006 Louro Do Bolo (Rafeal Palacios) Godello (Valdeorras). My first Godello, but won't be my last. Apple and white peach fruit, a little citrus, full-bodied but with good acids. There's an Italian-like almond note on the finish, this is a bit like a Chablis 1er meets a Falanghina. Nice wine, and a nice wine with the food. B+

Sunday Betsy was coming back from Boston, but stopping for a quick rehearsal for a recording. Some timing, but managed to have dinner ready 5 minutes after her arrival. Lovely night on the patio, warm but with a breeze and low humidity. Dinner was leg of lamb with mustard and mint, along with carrots, salad, and leftover bok chop & fungi. I wanted a midweight red that could stand up to the Colmans and mint, went with the
2005 Filliatreau “La Grande Vignolle” Saumur-Champigny. Served lightly chilled, just a lovely wine. Black cherries and red plums, a tiny hint of a Cab Franc herbiness (not greenness, think Figeac), good concentration. As it warms a little coffee and smoke. Clear but not sharp acidity, easy light tannins. This has a future, but very tasty now, not closed at all. A-

Happy night with my wife and my dog (the extra dog for a week was kind of fun, but we were glad to be back to routine).

* I was surprised how good the takeout crab reheated was. But still need to do my own softies while available.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 

[Jenise]

Godello's the grape, then? If so interesting, not one I've run into before. Oh, and was it Spanish or Portugese?

Yes, Godello is the grape, Valdeorras is the (Spanish) area.
Jim Cowan has posted on a different Godello before.

Yes, Godello is the grape, Valdeorras is the (Spanish) area.
Jim Cowan has posted on a different Godello before.

Dale & Jenise,
Try Vina Godeval. It's Ordonez but very un-Ordonez.

[Jenise]

Yes, Godello is the grape, Valdeorras is the (Spanish) area.
Jim Cowan has posted on a different Godello before.

Dale & Jenise,
Try Vina Godeval. It's Ordonez but very un-Ordonez.

Thanks for the suggestion; Ordonez wines are available here, so I have a good chance of stumbling across this. In fact, I can ask for it.

I agree about the excellence of Godello, unless I have simply been lucky with the vintage. I will be buying more.

Well, a Spanish correspondent on another forum pointed out that as in most regions, producer is most important. Most Godello is probably crap, but that's true of Muscadet, Soave, and many other regions where I love the artisanal producers. I'm still looking for the Valdesil that Florida Jim raved about, but also remember he tasted a ghastly Godello about same time.

Most Godello is probably crap.

Actually - no, Dale. There are only 31 wineries in the Valdeorras appellation, where 90% of Spain's godello is produced (there's godello in Portugal too, under the names of gouveio in the Douro and verdelho in Dão - not to be confused with Madeira's and Australia's verdelho, which is an entirely different grape variety), and most of them produce creditable godello. It's a 'new' wine in that as late as the 1970s just a few hundred grapevines survived, the region having been replanted (like most of northwestern Spain) to the lowly palomino grape of Jerez (great for fotified wine, lousy for table wine) after phylloxera struck. The replanting of godello coincided with the spread of temperature-controlled vinification, and technically most of the wines are OK. Rafael Palacios is the younger brother of Álvaro Palacios of Priorat and Bierzo fame, and he does a great job with godello - but do note Louro do Bolo is just his second wine, from bought-in grapes. For godello from older, low-yielding, hillside vines that produce long-lived wine of quasi-chenin blanc stature, you should try Rafael's top wine, As Sortes, or the other super-duper godellos around: Guitián Fermentado en Barrica or Guitián sobre Lías, from La Tapada; Pezas da Portela, from Valdesil; Viña Godeval, from Godeval.

thanks for the correction and the recommendations. Santiago, the Spanish gentleman who warned about Godello in general also suggested the Guitián; will note the others you listed.