The smoky and leesy 2019 Gorvia Blanco is a single-vineyard white from a classified vineyard, the first one he planted 38 years ago with trellises and later transformed to goblet. It's one hectare on a slope by the Monterrei Castle on decomposed and complex slate soils, mostly Dona Blanca with 5% Treixadura and Verdello Antiguo. It fermented in a 1,500-liter foudre and a 500-liter barrel, all used and neutral, where the wine is kept with lees for one year, then blended and put in stainless steel for one more year. It feels young and undeveloped; it's still pale and primary, with notes of herbs and fennel, crushed stones and a balanced palate with precision, delineation and purity and with a very tasty finish. The variety is considered quite neutral but does reflect the character of the place quite faithfully ... at least when worked like this! Bravo! 2,500 numbered bottled were filled in November 2021.

Vintages don't necessarily follow in chronological order here, so from the 2014 I tasted last year (which is just being released now!), we jump to the 2018 Gorvia Blanco. This plot had normal yields in 2018, as the development was quite early and the fruit setting was before the problems showed up. This is the first year that has a little Godello, as Mateo replaced the dead vines and regrafted some rows with Godello, so it has a very small percentage (perhaps 5%). This is sharp, austere, mineral and incredibly young, and it finishes with a clean, sharp and precise salty note. This follows the textural direction of the Fisterra, or the wine he bottled for Matador. This should develop in bottle for a long time. He thinks 2014 is starting to show well now, almost six years after the harvest. I think this wine can be enjoyed young, but it will improve and develop a lot in bottle. 2,400 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2020.

The white 2014 Gorvia Blanco is pure Dona Blanca from a 32-year-old vineyard with 3,200 plants per hectare on slate soils with red clay at 420 meters in altitude. It matured in a well-seasoned 1,500-liter oval oak foudre for 11 months. They had eight days of rain during the harvest, so the grapes from before the rain were superb, while after the rain, there was a lot of botrytis and problems. This has a smoky touch, a bit leesy. The palate shows great freshness and balance, with moderate ripeness. This should evolve in bottle nicely, and that faint oaky touch should get integrated with some more time in bottle. José Luis thinks this can evolve similarly to what the 20007s have done, which was better than expected. No rush to pull the cork; this has not yet been released. 1,800 bottles were filled in February 2018.

The white 2013 Gorvia was bottled in December 2016 and is the current vintage in the market. This bottling is sourced from the first vineyard José Luis Mateo planted 27 years ago on very white, degraded slate soils. This is one of his warmest vineyards, and he needs to be careful and harvest early. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in a 1,500-liter oak foudre, where it was kept for 11 months, and then transferred to stainless steel, where it had a further élevage of two years. He does a long aging, trying to get more complexity and trying to get the soil character and have something less fruity. There is little fruit here, and as all whites, is very mineral, balanced and harmonious, with minerality and a salty finish. 2,000 bottles produced.

Despite what many might think, 2012 was cooler in Monterrei than 2011. The 2012 Gorvia Blanco is a varietal Dona Blanca from a single plot of vineyards planted some 26 years ago. But it's distinctly riper than 2013 or 2014. The vineyard is on a slope close to the Monterrei Castle on slate soils and it's the warmest of all the vineyards worked by Quinta da Muradella. It fermented part in stainless steel and part in an oval oak foudre with some uncrushed grapes, where it matured for some nine months before being blended and given an additional year in stainless steel - before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. It's a balanced vintage, with riper aromas of yellow plums and plenty of pollen and beeswax aromas. I also tasted a bottle of the 2008, a cool vintage that proprietor Jose Luis Mateo had kept to follow up on the evolution of Dona Blanca; it is a grape that is thought to be neutral and destined for early-consumption wines. Not at all! At least in the able hands of Mateo and the mineral slate soils where the vines are planted. The nose is exuberant full of chamomile and pollen aromas beautifully perfumed. Despite being the warmest of all the vineyards, the wine is surprisingly fresh, with very tasty flavors and a supple, umami-driven finish. The acidity will become more integrated with time in bottle, as I've seen in the 2008. 2,600 bottles filled in August 2015.