Rafael Palacios Louro Do Bolo Godello 2017

Professional Ratings

• 93 Jeb Dunnuck
  In the same style, the 2017 Louro Do Bolo is a blend of 92% Godello and 8% Treixadura from sandy, granitic soils, fermented and aged in larger foudre. Crushed lime, citrus pith, white flowers, and a beautiful salinity all give way to a medium-bodied, racy, vibrant white that makes you salivate. It’s going to be incredibly versatile on the dinner table, and while I’d drink bottles over the coming year or so, I wouldn’t be surprised if this evolves gracefully for longer.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The entry-level 2017 Louro was cropped from an unusual year marked by frost that reduced the crop by some 40%. It's a blend of Godello with around 8% Treixadura with good ripeness, concentration, power and acidity, managing a considerable alcoholic degree with low pH and notable acidity. It fermented in 3,000-liter oak foudres, where it was kept with the fine lees for four months. This is a great wine, perhaps not as long lived as As Sortes, because the vineyards are not as high in altitude and have a little more clay in the soils. It's a little more varietal in character but also marked by the soils, especially on the finish. It's very expressive early on. It's not a banal wine—it's serious, clean, balanced and concentrated, ripe without excess, expressive, aromatic and open. It has intense, pungent flavors with a saline, tasty twist I often find in wines from granite. It combines power with balance. This overdelivers for its price.
• 90 Wine Spectator
  Peach, quince and lime flavors mingle with notes of lemon cream, heather and grapefruit in this expressive white. The texture is broad, but crisp acidity keeps this focused.