After Godello’s rise, what’s next for Valdeorras?

The region has endured a dreadful summer, plagued by smoke and wildfires. The 2025 harvest, affected by drought and the high temperatures that fuelled the flames, will be small and disappointing. Nevertheless, nothing seems likely to halt the steady rise of Valdeorras’s white wines.

The success of Godello is best illustrated by its expansion into nearby regions, particularly Monterrei, where the flatter terrain makes cultivation easier. Here, Godello accounted for 55% of the 2024 harvest, whereas in Bierzo, where it is also gaining ground, its share was 28%. In Ribeira Sacra, where red varieties dominate, Godello represented just 10% of the 2023 harvest —still enough to make it the most widely planted white variety in the area. Beyond Galicia and Bierzo, its recent introduction to DO Rueda caused considerable controversy, even though it remains classified as a secondary variety and cannot yet be used for single-varietal whites.

Paradoxically, white wine was of minor importance in Valdeorras in the 1960s. "More often than not, white grapes were blended with red ones. Only a few wineries produced small quantities of white wine with an alcohol content between 11% and 12%,” wrote Alain Huetz de Lemps in Vineyards and Wines of Northwest Spain. The French geographer listed Godello among the white varieties grown in the area, albeit with a limited presence. A 1971 study by Luis Hidalgo and Manuel R. Candela for the INIA (National Institute of Agronomic Research) titled Contribución al conocimiento del inventario vitícola nacional (Contribution to the knowledge of the national wine inventory) estimated that Godello represented just  1% of the vineyard area in the province of Ourense. Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) dominated with 50%, while Palomino accounted for 40% and Mencía barely reached 5%. The composition of Galician vineyards has changed dramatically over the past 50 years.

Bet on white

The turning point came in the 1970s, with the recovery of the Godello grape, thanks to the Revival Plan (Restructuring of Valdeorras Vineyards), and the first successful vinifications at the O Barco cooperative in the following decade, which produced a Gran Vino Godello, presented in a mesh-covered Rhine bottle.

According to 2024 data from Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, there are currently 1,590 hectares of Godello planted across Galicia and 502 hectares in Castilla y León. In Valdeorras alone, the area under Godello has doubled in the last decade, reaching 720 hectares. The chart below illustrates its dominance: Godello accounted for 75% of all DO-certified wines in the 2024–25 campaign. 

 Palomino has now shrunk to just 90 hectares. Most of it, along with much of the Garnacha Tintorera, which covers around 140 hectares and is the other variety that colonised Galician vineyards after phylloxera, is processed at Jesús Nazareno, the largest cooperative in the area, better known as Vinos Barco.

To carry the 'Godello' designation, a wine must be made entirely from the variety. The DO has also introduced additional quality criteria, such as the "controlled production vineyard" category, which certifies yields below 8,000 kg/ha for Godello , compared to 12,500 kg/ha for preferred varieties. So far, only A Coroa has adopted this for its Godello aged under lees.

Godello has now disrupted Spain’s long-standing Verdejo-Albariño duopoly. While those two are noted for their intense, well-defined aromatic profiles, Godello’s charm lies on the palate. It produces rounded, textural wines with a supple mouthfeel, as opposed to the zesty acidity of Albariño or the distinctive bitterness of Verdejo. In this sense, it sits closer to Chardonnay. When properly grown and vinified, it can retain good acidity , although it contains less malic acid than Albariño and more tartaric and citric acid. The best producers in Valdeorras have proven that Godello has good ageing potential and reacts well to ageing both in stainless steel and wooden vessels.

Variety vs. terroir

During a recent visit to the area, we witnessed the devastation caused by the wildfires and sampled a wide range of local wines. Once again, the resilience of the vineyards stood out. Although some plots were damaged, many acted as natural firebreaks, protecting nearby villages surrounded by flames. The charred landscape bore the erratic traces of the fires —whole slopes burnt to ash while neighbouring ones were left unscathed . "The wildfires have modified the ripening process," explained Jorge L. Mazairas, technical director of the Valdeorras Regulatory Board.

Despite  uncertainty over the latest harvest, 2024 was a record year, with 8.2 million kilos of grapes picked —6.1 million of them Godello. But as Jorge Ordóñez, who pioneered Godello imports to the US in the early 1990s with Godeval before launching his own venture in the region in 2007, points out, "the pressure on Godello is immense". He believesit still has some way to go before achieving the international recognition enjoyed by Albariño.

The US, the UK and Germany are Valdeorras' main international markets, but exports represent only 10% of the DO's production. With an increasing number of Godello wines on the market — including single-varietal examples from  Ribeiro — the region should emphasise its distinctive terroirs.

There is certainly no shortage of diversity. As SWL reported back in 2018, Valdeorras is a mosaic of valleys, exposures, elevations and soil types beyond the familiar slate.

A character of its own

These nuances are increasingly evident in premium ranges, which have expanded significantly in recent years. These wines typically involve special vinifications, longer ageing on lees, or come from specific sites or single-vineyards.

Among the latest projects from outside the DO, Pago de los Capellanes launched Vides do Córgomo in the 2019 vintage. This opulent Godello comes from small slate plots in the parish of Córgomo in San Martín de Valdeorras and contrasts sharply with the sandy-granite soils (pictured below) surrounding the group’s O Luar do Sil winery in Larouco. Cvne's Virgen del Galir has also elevated the Regueirón vineyard in Éntoma to a single-vineyard status and even produces a  limited-edition Palomino, Sede e Fame, from the As Ermidas area in the rugged Bibei valley.

Some pioneering Godello producers have placed greater emphasis on winemaking techniques. Building on the success of its classic Cepas Vellas, Godeval launched Revival in the 2014 vintage, seeking a stronger aromatic profile from one of its oldest vineyards through cryomaceration. This was followed by Godeval 1986, launched in the 2017 vintage to mark the company's founding year, which showcases the depth imparted by wood ageing. In contrast, Guitián has explored Godello’s ageing potential with +50 Meses en Botella (+50 months in bottle), a remarkable demonstration of the good evolution in bottle of their standard Godello.

Valdesil's approach to premium wines is rooted in single vineyard bottlings. Beyond the very limited production of Pedrouzos, which comes from a historic vineyard dating back to 1885, the winery draws compelling contrasts between the slate soils of Córgomo (behind Asadoira) and the granite tension of O Chao in As Ermidas. With its dramatic setting, the monastery of As Ermidas (on the photo below) on the banks of the Bibei river, has become one of the most sought-after locations in Valdeorras. Another standout from Bibei is A Coroa's 200 Cestos from Lentelláis (O Bolo). And of course, the appellation’s most expensive white is Rafael Palacios's  Sorte O Soro, a single-vineyard Godello priced at over €400 in Spain.

A place for reds

Godello’s dominance has reduced Mencía's plantings in Valdeorras to under 200 hectares, leading to a decline in the red wines traditionally destined for local and regional markets.   

Many of the region’s top producers — including Rafael Palacios, and early pioneers such as Godeval and Guitián— focus exclusively on whites. The same applies to newcomers like Pago de los Capellanes (O Luar do Sil), drawn to Valdeorras by its white wine boom.  Cvne is an exception: at Virgen del Galir, red wines remain central to production, with offerings across all price levels.  Likewise, Jorge Ordóñez, who once sourced reds from his Godello growers, now produces three serious red wines of his own.

Among local specialists, Joaquín Rebolledo stands out. His widely available young Mencía, which matures well in the bottle, is a textbook expression of the variety in Valdeorras. The family-run Alan del Val estate also deserves mention for its extensive portfolio of single-vineyard and varietal wines, demonstrating their commitment to exploring lesser-known varieties such as Brancellao.

It's a pity that Valdesil has stopped producing Valderroa, one of the region's most distinctive Mencías and the wine with which the Prada family revived production in the 1990s. However, Valdesil continues to produce Valteiro, an excellent single varietal red made from the María Ordoña (Merenzado) grape.

Following its deep exploration of the Bibei Valley, Ladeiras do Xil — the Cía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez venture in Valdeorras — now boasts the region’s most ambitious red portfolio. The restoration of the historic Falcoeira vineyard is a gift to Valdeorras and the wider wine world, conceived as a revival of a local grand cru. Two other single-vineyard reds, As Caborcas and O Diviso, hail from the same valley, joined by Valbuxán, made from fruit surrounding the recently acquired pazo of that name and meant to emulate ancient local winemaking methods. Faithful to field blends and underpinned by the granitic soils at the eastern edge of the DO, these are refined, deep reds with moderate extraction.

A perfect example of this new Valdeorras is O Cabalín, the rising star we have already written about extensively in SWL. The winery focuses mainly  on red wines, which make up 80% of its output. It relies on old vines at high elevations that favour field blends, but in a very different setting. Teresa López Fidalgo and Luis Peique have concentrated their efforts in the westernmost part of the appellation, bordering Bierzo. Here, the slate soils lend the wines depth and a distinctive dark minerality. These  reds are fresh yet deep in colour, firm and structured with elegant tannins —almost Bordeaux-like in style. Production is limited to around 10,000 bottles, yet O Cabalín's stylistic and qualitative contribution to the area is undeniable. Its flagship red, which bears the name of the project, captures the depth and stony darkness that define its wines, while the single vineyard reds reveal more individual nuances.

Other forms of innovation are emerging among the reds, including single-varietal expressions of Merenzao and Garnacha Tintorera, although the latter is more challenging to balance in terms of power and often benefits from bottle ageing. Confusion is compounded by producers who label it simply as Garnacha, despite it being a different variety that yields almost the opposite style.

Red blends, beyond those from  old vineyards, also deserve more attention, particularly for showcasing lesser-known varieties. The "castes nobres" (noble varieties) designation, which requires at least 85% of preferential varieties, could be a valuable tool. So far, it has been largely overlooked in whites due to Godello's prominence and  only tentatively applied to reds.

Next week we will be sharing some of our favourite wines from those we tasted during our trip to the region.