The 2012 Montenovo Godello from their youngest vineyards (around 15 years old) and from purchased grapes, is fermented in stainless steel with the native yeasts. The objective with this wine is to show the character of the Godello grape, so they bottle it quite early. Very light-colored, it has a young and fruity nose, fresh, with fennel and some medicinal notes. The palate has a slight spark and minerality that lifts the wine up and gives it freshness. 48,000 bottles produced. Drink 2013-2015. Valdesil was created in 1990 by the Prada Gayoso family. They had been grape-growers in the region for a very long time but over the years the ownership of the vineyards was divided among different family members, and even some plots were sold. They started making wine and set themselves the objective of recovering ownership of the family vineyards. They had kept the Pedrouzos vineyard, which was planted by their ancestor Jose Ramon Gayoso just after the attack of phyloxera in 1885 that remains the oldest known Godello vineyard. They re-purchased the small parcels of vineyards, locally called pezas, and they used the Pedrouzos canes to replant them when needed. The first commercial release of their Pezas da Portela was from the 2002 vintage, when they finished the acquisitions of all these pezas. They now own 20 hectares of vineyards and buy some grapes to produce 250,000 bottles of wine per year. 2013 has been a dreadful year for Valdeorras, with one terrible frost and two hailstorms that destroyed a good part of the fruit, and will probably have a negative effect on the yields of the 2014 harvest. When I visited the Pedrouzos vineyard, which is amazing, it had no grapes whatsoever; they were so damaged that they decided to green harvest all the grapes to protect the plants. At such a venerable old age they don’t need the stress of ripening the fruit that was damaged anyway. They produce four whites and two reds in a functional and simple winery, as their efforts go into their vineyards. A very reliable source for quality wines from Valdeorras. Importer: Valkyrie Selections, San Francisco, CA, Tel (415) 824-6461.