Mauro Godello 2024

Bodegas Mauro is the personal project of Mariano García, the oenologist known for three decades at Vega Sicilia and as a maker of highly regarded reds in Tudela de Duero. This is his white, first made in 2013, from Godello grown in Castilla y León. Godello is a full-bodied Galician variety that gives ripe stone fruit and a firm mineral backbone, and here it is aged for eight months in French oak barrels. Barrel ageing on the lees adds texture, a gentle nuttiness and light woodspice, and the periodic stirring and slow oxygen exchange through the wood broaden the palate while keeping the wine balanced, with the oak used to frame the fruit rather than dominate it. The colour is bright straw-gold. The nose leads with white peach, pear and apricot over melon and a subtle almond and honey character from the barrel. The palate is broad and rounded, its ripe stone fruit balanced by fresh acidity and a long, nutty, mineral finish. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a larger white wine glass, and give it a little air. It works with roast white fish, chicken and pork.