Raul Perez - Ultreia Godello 2023

Raúl Pérez Pereira is universally considered to be one of the world’s most visionary winemakers. Since he produced his first vintage for his family’s winery in 1994 at the age 22, he has been in the forefront of the conversation about what has been called “The New Spain”. In 2005, he left his family business to strike out on his own, creating Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez, which quickly became the point of reference for the Bierzo appellation. In the intervening years, he has expanded his sphere of activity to include the appellations of Rías Baixas, Ribeira Sacra and Tierra de León, but his heart and his home remain in Valtuille de Abajo, the village in Bierzo where his family has been tending vines for well over 300 years.

In addition to numerous other accolades, Raúl was named “Winemaker of the Year” by German publication Der Feinschmecker in 2014 and “Best Winemaker in the World” for 2015 by the French publication Bettane+Desseauve. In the February 2018 Decanter, Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros wrote, “Raúl Pérez is the archetype of the intuitive winemaking genius.” A picture of Raúl in that same article is captioned, “Is this the best winemaker in the world?” Raúl would certainly not self-apply any of these superlatives. In fact, his genius is far exceeded by his humility and generosity of spirit. That humility comes through in his wines. These are not “winemaker” wines so much as they are unadulterated expressions of the villages and vineyards from which they hail.

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, as Godello can get blowsy and even a little sloppy if overripened. So this is picked on the knife edge of ripeness, and as such the resulting wine only reaches about 11.8% alcohol. The wine ferments and ages in a combination of foudres and old concrete.

"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. They produced close to 50,000 bottles." - 93 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"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. Sourced from 11 hectares, 80% from Cacabelos, the rest from Villa de Canes. Drink or hold." - 94 points, James Suckling

Producer: Raul Perez 

Country: Spain

Region: Castilla y León

Varietal: Godello

Appellation: Bierzo

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml