The varietal and fruit-driven 2019 Montenovo has aromas of white fruit, flowers and a balsamic twist and a medium-bodied palate with a bittersweet finish, suggesting a touch of sweetness that the analysis didn't show. It has an approachable and commercial profile that should please many. 60,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2020.

The 2015 Montenovo is the entry level white, produced with Godello grapes from back slate soils and bottled early trying to preserve the fruit character of the grape. They consider 2015 a Mediterranean vintage, with a dry summer in July, August and September. The grapes are pressed in absence of oxygen and the must fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats, where the wine was kept for three months before bottling. The nose is a bit muted and takes some time to unfurl the white acacia flower and apple aromas. The palate is quite vibrant, clean, fresh and with the telltale Godello bittersweet finish. This is a very nice introduction to the region and grape. 56,000 bottles were produced in 2015.

The range opens with the 2013 Montenovo, fresh and approachable, cold-fermented in stainless steel where it matured for four months before bottling. It's very young, very representative of Godello in need of blowing off the sulfur, but underneath you find notes of white flowers and a hint of pollen. The medium-bodied palate has good acidity and clean flavors. I had the chance to taste the 2011 as a reference, a vintage that has 4.5 grams of sugar from a year with a much warmer climate. 2013 is a cold vintage. 81,715 bottles.

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.