Conasbrancas - Godello, Doña Blanca & co.

Godello, Doña Blanca, Treixadura, Colgadeira, Palomino & meer | verschillende oude wijngaarden in de val do Bibei in Valdeorras | gedeeltelijk full cluster vergist en een deel oup hout | rijping in 300 en 500l gebruikte vaten | floraal | geel fruit | fijne zuren | zout | wijn-spijs top

Fedellos do Couto & Peixes

Sinds 2013 zijn Curro en Jesús samen met Luis Tobada gestart met hun Fedellos do Couto project. De wijngaarden waar de opbrengsten eerst van werden verkocht wordt hier nu wijn gemaakt. Op de zeven hectare grond die zij bewerken staan soms wel acht tot negen druivenrassen door elkaar! Het gebied Ribeira Sacra staat bekend om zijn prachtige natuur. Scherpe kliffen, riviertjes en beekjes en flinke rotspartijen. Later komen daar wijngaarden in de DO Ribeiro bij op grote hoogte. Karakteristieke wijnen met karakter en puurheid!

Review

The one white here was produced with grapes from different old vineyards in different parishes of the village of Manzaneda (Soutipedre, Seoane, Langullo) within the Val do Bibei and is a blend of approximately 50% Godello, 25% Dona Branca and the remaining 25% a mixture of varieties, including Treixadura, Colgadeira and Palomino, etc. The current release is the 2018 Conasbrancas, from a very cold and rainy vintage, when they fermented 70% of the grapes with full clusters in plastic bins and the rest pressed and fermented in barrique. The wine matured in used 300- and 500-liter oak barrels for seven months with the lees but without bâtonnage. It has a characterful nose, with no oak whatsoever, very floral, with intense notes of pollen. The palate is terribly balanced, with pungent flavors and integrated acidity, effervescent and sharp, with a salty finish. The effect of the skins is quite subtle, and there's no visible color or tannin. Perhaps it has been polished by the time in oak. It has good depth and is quite complete. A fresher, more complete version of 2016? 5,000 bottles were filled in August 2019. 93+/100 Luis Gutiérrez

Fedellos do Couto is now consolidated as one of the quality leaders of Ribeira Sacra. But as is often the case, they sell the wines without appellation of origin due to the enormous bureaucratic problems the controlling body was creating, rejecting the wines because they don't follow the standardized style they are used to. And Fedellos do Couto is not the only winery with this experience; Envínate and Raúl Pérez had suffered the same problems, and Laura Lorenzo and Sílice were never part of the appellation for the same reason. If you consistently kick out the quality leaders from the appellation, something must be wrong. Given the success of their red Cortezada in 2019, they have started producing a new 100% Mencía from the banks of the Bibei River, one of the subzones of Ribeira Sacra. But for now I tasted the four 2018s, one of the finest vintages in the region, and for many young producers, the best in their career. It was a cold and rainy year, with about three weeks of delay in the vegetative cycle. The summer, which is key, started cool and wet but finished dry and warm, which helped with the harvest of some of the best fruit ever. Something to get excited about! They currently produce around 25,000 bottles per vintage.