2007 Casal Novo Godello Valdeorras Blanco

• By Josh Raynolds
  September/October 2008, IWC Issue #140, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Adega O Casal Casal Novo Godello Valdeorras) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  9/30/2008, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (CASAL NOVO Godello Bianco) Casal Novo Dear Friends, ...and now for some good news. This is the vinous one-two punch the new order in Spain has been looking for to cement their status as a serious wine-producing country, not just a one-trick pony (Vega Sicilia). You may laugh at that last sentence (this is, after all, the same country with a multitude of 98+pt WA wines) but the Spanish have tread a very dangerous path lately and they have not learned from the same mistakes made by the Australians - marketing and superior packaging/graphics will only last so long in the US market and massive scores are not enough to sell the wines. The world cannot live on 16% alcohol and baked fruit forever and the need to establish a real sense of identity, away from the contrived wines that have sprouted like flies, rings as loudly as it did in the Barossa Valley circa 2003 when the first signs of a meltdown were under way. The preceding paragraph is (of course) full of obtuse generality - there are always exceptions to every rule (Atuata, Pasanau and Nita to name a few, there are dozens of others) but you get the point. Reflective wine with a true sense of itself was the old Spain, the old Rioja championed by Lopez de Heredia and other traditionalists but something was lost over the last 10-15 years where extract and impact took precedent over substance. When Numanthia is more recognized than Bosconia, you know something is wrong (in Bordeaux that would be like saying La Mondotte had become the standard and the style of Lafite forgotten). That brings us to today's winery - Casal Novo. Eight years in the making (actually in the "unmaking") resuscitating the vineyards and restoring them to a garden mentality instead of a farm, this winery is a beacon the way something like Bindi is in Australia. From the same emerging Sil River district of northwest Spain that we have profile lately, this winery is ready to show the rest of Europe (and the wine-world) that something new is afoot on the Iberian peninsula and it's not in Priorat, Rioja or Ribiera del Duero. Produced in a garage in a small village, these are high altitude wines of their place and they melt into your consciousness more in line with the Loire Valley than what we perceive as Spanish. Naturally produced, there is no oak in sight anywhere (not even for the red wines) just secretive vessels of fermentation that show the grapes as they were just prior to picking. Very difficult to describe, these are light to medium weight wines of grandeur that would make Clos Rougeard proud to have championed them. Spanish Saumur-Champigny with an Ampuis twist given a mysterious Eben Sadie-like touch? That's Casal Novo - wine that deserves to grace the table of every palate we reach out to. From the downright amazing 2007 vintage, if you crave laser-like transparency and the acute taste of minerality (in both red and white forms), here you go. Some of the more fascinating and special wines of 2008 and a reminder of why I continue the road to discovery every day... Both are VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and VERY RARE ONE SMALL SHIPMENT ONLY (50 cases of each for the entire US including restaurants - only 25 cases for retail) 2007 Casal Novo "Godello" Valdeorras (blanco) What can you say about this? It is extra-ordinary (hyphen intended) in its mirror-image of the mountainside it was raised on. Like fusing a piece of quince and lemon into the side of a boulder and dressing it in the most elegant original Balenciaga haut couture. Did I say this was good? If you enjoy unoaked, low alcohol white wine (12.0-12.5%), you need to try this. Would be stunning with shellfish: 2007 Casal Novo "Mencia" Valdeorras This is simply an amazing rendition of Cabernet Franc (oh, sorry, I mean Mencia) - it is like a sip of 1989 Saumur poured into the mouth of the Sil River with an element of the highest altitude Cornas thrown in for good measure. There is almost no weight here, but it is indeed very deep. Brimming with color and surprise, this wine has excellent ripeness and fruit with only 12.0-12.5% alcohol. Another early candidate for WOTY and no oak of any kind: This shipment is directly from the winery cellar with perfect provenance Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Spain8270 Spain8280