94pts James Suckling
Pure godello from young vines, showing aromas of citrus and almonds. Medium- to full-bodied, it’s balanced and flavorful, with stone fruit. Ample, delicious and persistent. Grapes undergo a very long fermentation.
93pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Ultreia Godello, mostly from the zone of Cacabelos, and the vineyards have been transformed to organic. This is an unusual wine for this bottling because the fermentation was very slow (nine months) and without temperature control, and the wine went through malolactic—it's the first white he bottled with full malolactic. Most (70%) of the wine was in large stainless steel and the rest in used barriques. This seems to be happening again in 2024. It has a golden color and a ripe nose of yellow fruit and a round, tender mouthfeel with a bitter twist in the finish and a dry, chalky feeling. This is the most Burgundian of the whites here.
Winemaker Notes
The Godello is from three sites in the village of Valtuille de Abajo, though 90% of the fruit in this vintage actually comes from one north-facing site. The ultimate focus here is on preserving acidity, so this wine is picked on the knife edge of ripeness.
Winery Notes
Raul Perez was born into a winemaking family, Bodegas Castro Ventosa, the largest owner of Mencia plantings in Bierzo. Raul grew up developing his ideals and worked at the family winery until 2003. His reluctance to compromise has made him both controversial and popular.
Bodegas Raul Perez produces extra limited, handcrafted, artisinal wines from varieties such as Albarino, Mencia, Bastardo and Godello from northwestern Spain.
