Castro Ventosa Valtuille El Val Godello 2022/2023

Valtuille Godello 2023 "El Val" is a prestigious white made by Castro Ventosa, under the guidance of renowned winemaker Raúl Pérez, in Bierzo, Spain.

The Wine Advocate
RP 95

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The impressive 2022 Valtuille El Val has a darker yellow colour, some toasty notes (80% of the barrels were new), restrained ripeness and 13.07% alcohol. Harvest is early in warmer years, and the wine has great freshness and acidity, reflected in the figures — a pH of 3.15 and 7.04 grams of acidity. It's juicy and approachable, with a rounded, very clean and focused palate, the toasty notes still noticeable on the finish. It's varietal, with the purity and freshness typical of a cooler year. 1,800 bottles were produced. Bottled in August 2023. It should develop well in bottle.

The Wine Advocate
RP 95+

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2023 Valtuille El Val white comes from a vineyard in that “paraje” (lieu-dit) planted 37 years ago and grafted over to Godello about five years ago. It fermented in barrel with indigenous yeasts and matured in those 500-litre barrels on its lees, but without any bâtonnage, for a year. It's very complete, with good but restrained ripeness, keeping freshness and liveliness, with some notes of sesame seeds. It has 12.96% alcohol, a very low pH (3.08) and very good acidity (6.95), showing the freshness of the year, with no oak showing. It's very well defined and elegant. 1,600 bottles were filled in December 2024.

Castro Ventosa, the Pérez family winery in Bierzo, continues to work on zoning and the orientation of its vineyards. They're using more and more 500-litre barrels, seeking more finesse and elegance. They produce between 200,000 and 300,000 bottles from their 85 hectares of vineyards in Valtuille de Abajo, plus one hectare of Godello in Cabañas Raras.

After the very hot, dry 2022, 2023 was a cooler vintage, with rain at the start of harvest. The wines have a floral, serious and elegant profile, with restrained alcohol of 12.5% to 13%. In years when it rains during harvest — increasingly rare, but common in the past — the wines are finer-boned, and in warmer years the wines are darker, in every sense.

This is a project that tends to be overlooked, but it deserves as much attention as the personal project of Raúl Pérez and his nephew César Márquez, as it carries the hand and experience of both and the backbone of the family vineyards. The wines are very clean; the whites are a little more reductive, but the reds have plenty of purity, are consistent and very representative of their home. They have some of the best vineyards in the village, and these are among the best wines they've ever made, with precision and cleanliness.