César Márquez La Salvación Godello 2023

César Márquez's family has been in Valtuille de Abajo since 1752, which is a very long time to be anywhere. But César isn't just resting on that history. He's doing something pretty special with it. His thing is micro-vinifications. Tiny plots, old vines, obsessive attention. He wants to map Bierzo the way Burgundy maps its crus, one small parcel at a time. Different soils, different orientations, different expressions of the same place. It's a project that will take years, maybe decades. 

This Godello is called La Salvación. It comes from hundred-year-old vines that were basically forgotten, planted in among the Mencía, just hanging on. César found them and brought them back. The wine is beautifully balanced, expressive, with this salty finish that comes from a short time maturing under flor (that's the the same yeast layer that makes Sherry so distinctive, here doing its thing with Godello in Bierzo.) It's unexpected and completely wonderful.