Muradella’s Gorvia bottlings are unique and offer the kind of depth and minerality that gives the best of France a run for its money. José Luis Mateo releases a red and a white from this 1.2-hectare vineyard near Monterrei Castle in the northwestern Pazo de Monterrei subzone.

He took over the site about 27 years ago and has since replanted some varieties with mass-selection cuttings from the ancient A Trabe mountain vineyard. Farmed using biodynamic principles, the site sits on a slope of slate/schist soils (with plenty of iron in the mix) at 400 metres above sea level.

It’s a singular vineyard that begets one of Spain’s most distinctive wines.

While the red from this vineyard is a blend of varieties, the Gorvia Blanco is produced almost entirely from Doña Blanca, fermented (with one-third whole bunches) in a 1,500-litre foudre and a 500-litre barrel, both neutral, for one year, then blended and returned to stainless steel for another year before bottling.

The final cut is a deep, savoury, mineral and chalky white of Burgundian complexity: layered and complex with scents of wild honey and mixed citrus and a pure, long finish that lasts for minutes.

“The smoky and leesy 2019 Gorvia Blanco is a single-vineyard white from a classified vineyard, the first one he planted 38 years ago with trellises and later transformed to goblet. It’s one hectare on a slope by the Monterrei Castle on decomposed and complex slate soils, mostly Dona Blanca with 5% Treixadura and Verdello Antiguo. It feels young and undeveloped; it’s still pale and primary, with notes of herbs and fennel, crushed stones and a balanced palate with precision, delineation and purity and with a very tasty finish. The variety is considered quite neutral but does reflect the character of the place quite faithfully … at least when worked like this! Bravo!”
95 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate