Plying his trade in the remote and vinously obscure Monterrei DO hasn't stopped Jose-Luis Mateo emerging as one of northwest Spain's more revered growers. Mateo crafts a plethora of wines from a dizzying collection of old, dry-grown parcels. His Gorvia bottlings are unique and offer the kind of depth and minerality that gives the best of France a run for its money. Mateo releases both a red and a white from this vineyard, a 1.2-hectare site in near Monterrei Castle in the northwestern Pazo de Monterrei subzone. He took over the site about 27 years ago and has since replanted some varieties with massale cuttings from the ancient A Trabe mountain vineyard. Farmed using biodynamic principles, the site sits on a slope of slate/schist soils (with a lot of iron in the mix) at an altitude of 400 metres above sea level. It’s a singular vineyard which begets one of Spain’s most distinctive whites.
Gorvia Blanco is produced almost entirely from Doña Blanca. Fermented in mature 1500-litre oak foudres (one-third on skins) then aged in barrel with partial malolactic fermentation for 11 months before bottling, the wine later spends two winters in stainless steel.