2023 Telmo Rodriguez Gaba do Xil O Barreiro Single Vineyard Godello, Galicia

The super young and aromatic white 2023 Gaba do Xil O Barreiro comes from a warm year with an early harvest that delivered round and ripe wines like this one with 13.5% alcohol. It has notes of bay leaf and white flowers and is still a little reductive. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts, where it matured for four months. The heat of the vintage is not obvious in the wine even though it's a little riper and rounder, with the character from the red soils in the zone of Larouco. It ends with a pleasant bitter twist in the finish. 97,007 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2024.

91 points Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate

Telmo Rodríguez has spent much of his career seeking out old vineyards and indigenous Spanish varieties before they became fashionable. After studying in Bordeaux and working at his family’s Remelluri estate in Rioja, he and Pablo Eguzkiza established Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez in the 1990s. Galicia’s Valdeorras became one of their key projects, with Godello and its remarkable old hillside vineyards providing exactly the sort of territory Telmo loves to explore.

O Barreiro takes Gaba do Xil into much more serious territory. This single vineyard Godello comes from Valdeorras, where the dramatic inland Galician landscape, altitude and mineral rich soils give the variety a fascinating combination of ripeness and freshness. The 2023 has more concentration and texture than the regular Gaba do Xil, but retains Godello’s characteristic mineral drive and slightly savoury personality. It is a compelling alternative for anyone whose white wine world usually revolves around Chardonnay.

Bright straw gold with white peach, pear and quince followed by lemon and grapefruit. Chamomile and fennel add fragrance, while fresh almond and a cool stony note emerge underneath. The palate has lovely weight and almost waxy texture, balanced by fresh acidity and a mineral backbone. Pear, citrus peel and quince move towards almond and subtle saline notes through the long, dry finish.

Galician style grilled octopus with potato, smoked paprika and plenty of olive oil is exactly where I’d head, while scallops with cauliflower, roast hake, crab with saffron rice or charred leeks with romesco would be equally interesting. Godello has enough texture for serious food while keeping everything fresh enough to make another plate of seafood seem entirely reasonable. Cellaring: Drink now to 2035.