The official name of the winery is A Tapada, but everyone refers to it as Guitián, the owners’ surname and the brand used for their wines. Pioneering the recovery of local white grape Godello, the project was established in 1985 by the Guitián brothers and developed under the leadership of Ramón, who died prematurely in a traffic accident 10 years later. Brother Senén and sister Mari Carmen have been looking after the business ever since.
They grow 10 hectares of vineyards planted in the family estate of A Tapada in Rubiá (Ourense). This is one of the highest areas in the Valdeorras appellation reaching 600m of altitude. Grapes show good levels of acidity, something which is not easy to achieve in this inland region of Galicia which lies close to Bierzo (Castilla y Léon). Hence the high risk of frost in spring which has badly hit the vineyards in different occasions. Not surprisingly, Guitián has also pioneered the use of anti-frost towers in Spain.
Boasting an extensive experience with Godello, the family has always worked with wine consultants Pepe Hidalgo and Ana Martín. With production reaching 100,000 bottles, the range of wines include almost every possible version of Valdeorras’ trademark white grape: young (€9.5 in Spain, 80,000 bottles); aged with its lees in stainless steel tanks (€12, 15,000 bottles) and barrel fermented (€18, 5,000 bottles).
There are also limited editions of Godello aged in acacia wood barrels (€23, 2,000 bottles) and a late harvest bottling (€24 for 50 cl.). Guitián +50 Meses en Botella (around €15 in Spain) is particularly interesting — it is the young Godello which has been cellared in the winery for over 50 months. This is the sort of experiment that any wine lover can try to do at home with Guitian’s entry-level white. In fact, Godello is proving to be a strong candidate for cellaring, specially in high-quality vintages. Their unmistakable and stylish Art Deco label designs are worth seeking out too.
