The Gouveio grape variety, better known in Minho as Godelho, is an authorized grape variety for the Vinho Verde Region, but its planting is limited to a few dozen vines, mostly in experimental fields with no commercial purpose. However, it is a grape variety widely grown in Galicia, known as Godello, where it produces single varietal wines and also blends with varieties such as Alvarinho, Loureiro and Trajadura, among others. In Trás-os-Montes and the Douro, it is known as Gouveio and produces some of the best whites in the region.

With the aim of deepening and improving ancestral knowledge, Quinta da Raza set out to plant around one hectare of Gouveio. As there is no documented experience of this grape variety in the Vinho Verde region, Quinta da Raza chose a privileged site with a steep slope and exposure to the south, with mostly schist soils where the plants' resilience is put to the test. The result was a vineyard in tiers of one bardo per tier which, from the very first harvest, showed the great potential that this variety has for producing great wines in the Vinho Verde region.

Gouveio has shown itself to be a precocious grape variety with an excellent alcohol-acidity ratio and capable of producing very versatile wines that allow for graceful ageing in vats and bottles. The small volume produced in 2020 in the first harvest fermented in French oak barrels and is now aging in stainless steel vats. In 2021, the second harvest, after fermenting in stainless steel, underwent regular batonnage on the fine lees and was bottled in April under the Quinta da Raza brand.

QUINTA DA RAZA GOUVEIO is therefore something unique and exclusive in the Vinho Verde Region. Its quantity is very limited, but it will undoubtedly increase the diversity and notoriety of the wines from the Vinho Verde Region. It is an intensely mineral wine with aromas of white-fleshed fruit that emerge as the wine evolves in the glass. Notes of sea salt make the wine take on another dimension in the mouth where it is surprisingly pure and delicate.

Be part of our project to rehabilitate the region's forgotten grape varieties and let yourself be surprised by this Quinta da Raza Gouveio.