12 Sep 2018

Dominio de Tares, Bierzo Godello, 2017 By Michael R. Goss

by Maria Kuehn | posted in: WINE | 0

A scorchingly hot day coincided with a day’s work as a sommelier at a private function in Notting Hill.
My host had already chosen the wines, so the first part of my role that day was to sample each wine for obvious reasons. Not an onerous task you understand but necessary for me to be able to guide each guest to the right choice according to their preferences.
One particular wine caught my attention straightaway. Even on the first sniff of this bright, golden wine I could tell this was something special. Immediate aromas of peach and citrus only intensified after the swirl. A deeper second breath revealed more floral notes as the aromas lingered in my nose.
As soon as it hit my taste buds I could sense the wine had the depth and density along with a stone fruit complexity and a balanced acidity. I just loved savouring this wine for a few moments, absorbing its flavours before letting it go down and experiencing the rich buttery, toasty finish.
This Godello, from Castile and Leon is hand harvested bunch by bunch and fermented with selected and wild yeasts. It is aged on its lees for 6 months in French oak barrels and then a further 3 months in the bottle lending that extra buttery flavour and body.
The convivial wine is superb enjoyed by itself and would be the ideal partner for any seafood tapas, grilled hake or paella dishes. While not available in any supermarkets it is available direct and also from various online wine merchants for between £15 and £25 per bottle depending on the vintage.
Needless to say, after service there were only a couple of bottles of wine left. It had proved immensely popular and moorish, with discerning clients returning for several refills.