2024 Raul Pérez Ultreia Godello

Raúl Pérez is currently, without a doubt, the most media-savvy winemaker in all of Spain. However, his wines are almost impossible to find! Everyone talks about them, yet few have actually tasted them. Raúl is present in countless appellations and regions, not only in Spain, but also in South Africa, Portugal, and South America. The common thread in his work is the recovery of old vines of indigenous grape varieties and the production of authentic wines with great character and personality. Or, to put it in his own words: 'I would rather make an undrinkably bad Galician wine, but at least let it be a Galician wine.' Consequently, he has already vinified dozens of wines in countless different regions (mostly in the northwest of Spain, but also beyond), yet none of them have ever been released to the market. He tests, he tries, and very often fails. Naturally, this way of working provides him with an enormous amount of experience, which later enables him to extract the absolute maximum from a single grape variety or a single region.

Today, he makes or helps produce more than 80 wines. Eventually, he has also more or less settled down by cultivating two of his own mini-bodegas: one in the Tierra de León region, in the village of Valdevimbre, and another in his native Bierzo, where, in the village of Salas de los Barrios, he makes his own Ultreias, the absolute essence of Mencía. Raúl always works organically and as purely as possible. He uses the minimum amount of SO2.

Godello is making a massive comeback outside Spain's borders, and this has actually taken far too long. The international demand for Chardonnay (of often questionable quality) certainly ensured that a few years ago, Godellos were known only to 'wine connoisseurs,' but this has changed completely with incredibly beautiful quality wines made by houses such as Emilio Moro and Valdesil. Raúl Pérez started with this 'entry-level' white Ultreia Godello in 2017 with just a handful of bottles, but now, a few years later, it is one of the top wines. The grapes come from vineyards in the Bierzo region (Ponferrada, as well as vineyards in Cacabelos and Valtuille) and from a mix of soils, slate and clay. This sets the tone for the white wines; it possesses perfect ripeness, freshness, and harmony, and is very clean, with precision and clarity. It is a subtle variety and was fermented in used barriques and used oak foudres of various sizes. They never rack or bâtonnage, and they never use sulfur until bottling. It is fuller and has more volume, which is compensated by more acidity. The élevage lasts until the next harvest, when they need the oak containers, in an attempt to keep them empty for as short a time as possible.

Our regular customers know that we are big fans of the wines from this region made from Mencia (or the white Godello), such as the wines of Perez, Emilio Moro (Zarzal, Revelia), and Val de Sil , for example. The continental influences and style give the wines a Burgundian signature and result in wines with an incredible price-quality ratio!