Do yourself a favor and try a bottle or two. Chill it down, grab some fresh seafood, and you’ll understand why I came home from Galicia thinking about Godello
One of my favorite stops during my trip to Spain in May was our time in the northwest, visiting the Valdeorras D.O. and tasting at Bodegas Avancia.
Coming off some incredible tastings in Rioja and Ribera del Duero, I was definitely ready to dip my beak into something a little more subtle. I’ve been a huge fan of Godello for years, so finally getting to put my feet on the ground where some of Spain’s best examples are grown was a real treat. Even better? Tasting these wines alongside some of the freshest and most incredible seafood you can imagine.
As happened pretty much every day on the trip, I spit while tasting at the winery—and then enjoyed a few (sometimes more than a few) glasses of my favorites over dinner that evening.
And that night, I was laser-focused on one wine: the 2024 Bodegas Avancia Godello Cuvée O.
I kept revisiting it throughout dinner, partly because it was absolutely delicious and partly because I was trying to figure out one very important thing: How many cases do I want to buy for the shop?
Godello often draws comparisons to White Burgundy, particularly the incredibly focused, mineral-driven wines of Chablis. I completely understand the comparison. You get that beautiful combination of freshness, citrus, minerality and precision, but Godello can bring a little more texture and generosity to the glass.
Here’s the kicker: I gotta tell you, there isn’t a Chablis for $25 that can hold a candle to this wine.
The 2024 Avancia Cuvée O delivers exactly what I love about Godello—bright, fresh fruit, great acidity, beautiful mineral character and enough texture to make you keep going back to the glass. It’s serious enough to make a wine geek stop and pay attention, but it doesn’t require a special occasion to open.
In fact, it has quickly become my favorite “weekday” white wine.
Do yourself a favor and try a bottle or two. Chill it down, grab some fresh seafood, and you’ll understand why I came home from Galicia thinking about Godello