El Castro de Valtuille Godello 2023/2024

El Castro de Valtuille Godello 2023 is a benchmark white from Bierzo, Spain, made by the prestigious Castro Ventosa winery (the Raúl Pérez family). It stands out for unusual complexity for an entry-level white, benefiting from oak ageing that gives structure and longevity. 

The Wine Advocate
RP 93+

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The entry-level 2023 El Castro de Valtuille Godello comes from four plots in the village of Valtuille, on clay soils with different proportions of sand, rock and quartzite. It fermented and aged in large and small barrels for almost a year. All the 2023 whites are more reductive, with notes of gunpowder and flint. This is the most approachable. It comes from a less ripe vintage, with higher acidity and rain during the harvest. It shows more minerality, in the style of 2021, with restrained ripeness, 13.19% alcohol, a low pH of 3.06 and 7.1 grams of acidity. It's vibrant with a saline finish. 8,000 bottles were filled in December 2024.

Castro Ventosa, the Pérez family winery in Bierzo, keeps working on mapping and orienting its vineyards by zone. They increasingly use 500-litre barrels, seeking more refinement and elegance in their wines. They produce between 200,000 and 300,000 bottles from 85 hectares of vineyards in Valtuille de Abajo, plus one hectare of Godello in Cabañas Raras.