What does Godello smell like?

Godello wines are highly aromatic and show a strong varietal character, with fruity notes like pear and green apple, along with citrus such as grapefruit or lime, and occasionally tropical fruits like passionfruit, pineapple, lychee, or melon. They can also have vegetal and herbal notes such as boxwood, hay, fennel, thyme, chamomile and bay leaf, as well as aromas of white flowers. Godello also does a great job of transmitting the terroir of the zone in which it’s grown, with notes of flinty minerality in some of the best examples. As the wine ages in the bottle, the aromas become more complex and blended, sometimes showing aromas of bitter orange.

What does Godello taste like?

Like other Galician wines, Godello makes wines that stand out for their acidity and freshness. Wines made from stainless steel tend to preserve this acidity, with good structure in the mouth and fruit that stays on the palate. The variety also tends to have a slight bitterness on the finish. Wines that have contact with the lees or that age in oak have a fuller body, while still conserving their original varietal acidity.

Some technical details

Synonyms: Agodello, Agodenho (Portugal), Agudanho (Portugal), Agudelha or Agudelho (Portugal), Agudello, Agudelo, Agudenho (Portugal), Berdello, Godelho, Godella, Godenho, Gouveio (Douro in Portugal), Ojo de Gallo, Prieto Picudo Blanco (Tierra de León), Trincadente, Verdelho * or Verdelho do Dão (Dão in Portugal).

Godello buds and ripens early, and is very vigorous and productive. Because its grape clusters are sensitive to diseases—especially powdery and downy mildew—its range is limited, but it can be planted at higher altitudes as long as the vineyards are in sheltered locations and protected from frost.

Godello tends to have alcohol levels between 11 and 13% and acidity between 5.5 and 7 g/L. 

Unlike other, more terpenic Galician varieties such as Albariño, the primary aromas in Godello come from ethyl esters produced during alcoholic fermentation.

How is Godello wine made?

Winemakers tend to make Godello wines in two distinct styles. One is a young wine which ferments in stainless steel and has no wood or lees aging. These wines tend to conserve the fruity, mineral characteristics of the grape, along with its natural acidity. When wood is involved, Godello shows its huge capacity for evolution, gaining creaminess and body without losing any of its freshness. Contact with the lees can also add complexity without diminishing the grape’s natural freshness.

Many producers also incorporate pre-fermentation cold soaking, with the goal of obtaining more aromatics. Crushed white grapes are skin-macerated for around 8 to 16 hours at temperatures below 10 °C.

How is Godello grown?

Godello grows in all the wine regions of Galicia, and its training systems vary depending on the location.

In most parts of Galicia, older vines are trained in goblet style, but the majority of newer plantings are in double cordon style. Green pruning is important during the growing season as Godello is quite a productive variety. This is mostly done to control the shape of the canopy, preventing shoot tips from falling to the sides and shading the alleys between rows. Leaf removal is also common to improve ventilation of grape clusters, since Godello is sensitive to fungal diseases. Its clusters are also very sensitive to sunburn, so growers have to balance shading the grapes and promoting ventilation.

Since Godello is early ripening, in the past it was common to begin harvest at the beginning of September in the sunniest areas of Valdeorras. Now, harvest can begin at the end of August in hotter years.

Godello adapts best to warm, dry slopes, but it tolerates higher-altitude plantings as long as vineyards are sheltered, and also bears water stress well. This is key in regions like Valdeorras, which has a continental-Mediterranean climate.  

Valdeorras is the region most known for making 100% Godello wines, and it’s also one of the few regions of Galicia with large uninterrupted extensions of vines. Although the vines belong to many different people, in the traditional Galician style of dividing property in minifundios, the difference here is that the largest plantations of vines aren’t broken up by houses or other crops.

Godello's "Revival" in Valdeorras

In the decades after the phylloxera epidemic, Godello was on the verge of going extinct in Galicia. In search of the highest profits, growers ripped out old vines and replaced them with more productive varieties like palomino and garnacha tintorera. For years, what little Godello remained in Valdeorras was blended with other white grapes to be sold as bulk wine, produced by cooperative wineries. 

In 1976, engineers working for the Agricultural Extension Service began a project known as ReViVal (Restructuring the Vineyards of Valdeorras). Their aim was to rediscover pre-phylloxera grape varieties that had been lost and help Valdeorras’ growers to create high-quality, modern wines. They began to painstakingly track down old vines, all the while interviewing growers and seeking out the best grapes to use in experimental vinifications. Eventually, they realized that Godello was the perfect grape for their revival mission. Over the years, they perfected the techniques for growing Godello and making it into wine. In 1981, the first single-variety wines were released to great success, and by the end of the twentieth century Godello would become the star grape of Valdeorras.

Read more about the history of Valdeorras here.