21 hours ago
This wine deserves to be your new fridge-door white – snap it up when you see it
Godello is a white Iberian grape that's having a moment. With its tantalising aromatics, such as quince and orange blossom, a rounded (but not heavy) feel, and a burst of limy freshness, it's an excellent white for your summer fridge-door arsenal.
The very best one I've tasted recently is the glitteringly refreshing Vinos de Altura Gancedo Godello 2024, Bierzo, Spain (13%, Haynes Hanson & Clark, £17.75) – a real joy. Keen students of the supermarket shelves may have spotted that Aldi has a (good) Spanish godello in its summer range. Meanwhile, over at Morrisons, a godelho from the Douro Valley in Portugal is the best of the lot of Morrisons' just-launched Block Series wines (you'll find my tasting notes for both of these below).
A background to godello, and what to eat with it
As recently as the 1970s, godello was 'on the verge of extinction', according to Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz. The revival began in Valdeorras, a landlocked wine region in Spain's verdant north-west corner, and the grape is found mostly in nearby denominaciones de origen (DOs): Bierzo, Monterrei, Ribeira Sacra and Ribeiro (where it's often blended with other grapes to form a breezy, fragrant white).
In Portugal, godello has another name: gouveio (pronounced go-vay-oh). Even more confusingly, it used to be referred to as verdelho, but is absolutely not the same grape variety as the 'true' verdelho found in the Portuguese outpost of Madeira.
Gouveio grows mostly in the Douro Valley, the home of port, where vibrant white wines have become an unlikely (given the furnace-like conditions) success story. There, gouveio is most commonly blended with other local varieties, such as viosinho and rabigato. The wines may be lively and vital, with notes of lemon peel and herbs and a suggestion of salinity that makes you want to lick your lips. They may also be oaked, bringing not just the warmth of the wood spice but also a Burgundian weight and gravity, a textured wine chased through with a quivering freshness.
Either way, these are superb wines for seafood: good smoked salmon if you don't want to cook, otherwise with tuna carpaccio; garlicky prawn brioche buns or griddled octopus. The oaked wines can also work with warmer, fuller flavours such as barbecued sweet potatoes or even lamb chops, served with a lemony potato salad. As with so many wines, you can also create a feast by serving a good bottle with a roast chicken and a green salad.
