OT: A Coroa Godello 2014

A Coroa is a stunning winery set in the heart of Valdeorras, built on the foundations of an ancient Roman campsite. Here the team creates complex, elegant and intense wines from one of Spain’s finest grape varieties, Godello. Packed full of mature fruit flavours, the wines of A Coroa are big and very fresh. Angel Lopez and his family founded this winery in 2002 after spending years in the nursery business in Valdeorras. Native to the region, they supplied a majority of the wineries with their vines and have been on the forefront of Valdeorras’ reborn interest in the Godello varietal. Godello was one of the original varietals grown in the region by the Romans over two thousand years ago, since then the grape has slowly drifted toward obscurity until newer winemakers in the area decided to resurrect this unique varietal that is native to Valdeorras.

• Winery: Adega A Coroa, A Coroa, s/n – 32350 A Rúa (Ourense) España
• Phone: + 34 988 310 648
• Winemaker: Ángel Sanchez Cuesta
• Website: htpp://acoroa.co/winery/
• Brand: A Coroa Godello
• DO: Valdeorras
• Type: Young white wine. Production: 75.000 bottles
• Vintage: 2014 
• Alcohol: 13.5%
• Grape Variety: 100% Godello
• Vineyards: A total of 12 hectares comprised of several different vineyard sites all located in the area around the winery at A Rua. The parcels have varying exposures and elevations but share slate soils and the Godello grape as a unifying element. As the most in-land part of Galicia, Valdeorras enjoys warmer days than most of the region but still benefits from the cool air travelling along the river Sil. Crucially, A Coroa?s vineyard plots are up on the hillsides (mostly around 500m elevation) rather than near the valley floor where it can get very hot in the summer, with temperatures at times exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. In a recent acquisition, the estate purchased a two-hectare plot of old vines on granite. This site is known as Valdeaugas and is the source of the 200 Cestos wine. All the vineyards are hand harvested. Viticulture is sustainable with the least amount of herbicides and pesticides used, and the winery is transitioning to being fully organic. All the parcels are fermented using indigenous yeast and at low temperatures to extract maximum aromas and flavours. The wines are then aged on the lees for 6 months and a blend is made from the best lots to create A Coroa.
• Soil Type: Slate soils
• Bottle Size: 75.0 cl.
• Price: It can be found below € 10.00.
• My wine rating: 92/100 (A wine of outstanding or superior quality) NEW!

This is a complex, elegant and intense wine. The bouquet is marked by the ripe fruit flavours of apples, pears and melon. Pleasant floral notes and gorse flower can be also found, the characteristic of great Godellos. This wine is very fresh and well-balanced, with a typical light varietal bitterness which gives it breadth in the mouth.

Favourite Books 2015

(Following my book reading order in each group)

 

5 Contemporary Crime Fiction books:

Long Way Home (Vintage Digital, 2014) by Eva Dolan (A+) 

Gun Street Girl (Serpent’s Tail, 2015) by Adrian McKinty (A+)

Arab Jazz (MacLehose Press, 2015) Translated from the French by Sam Gordon, 2015. Originally published in 2012 by Karim Miské (A+)

Snowblind (Orenda Books, 2015) Translated by Quentin Bates, 2015. First published in Icelandic as Snjóblinda, 2010  by Ragnar Jonasson (A+)

We Shall Inherit the Wind (Orenda Books, 2015) Translated by Don Bartlett. Originally published as Vi skal arve vinden in 2010 by Gunnar Staalesen (A+)

 

5 Classic Crime Fiction Books: 

Double Indemnity (Orion, 2005) First published serially in 1936 by James M. Cain (A+) 

The Nine Tailors (Hodder & Stoughton, 2003) First published in 1934 by Dorothy L. Sayers (A+)

The Black Dahlia (Cornerstone Digital, 2011) First published in 1987 by James Ellroy (A+)

The Hound of the Baskervilles 1922. Included within The Complete Sherlock Holmes and The Complete Tales of Terror and Mystery. Signature Edition, 2011 (A+)

The Case of the Constant Suicides (Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989) First published in 1941 by John Dickson Carr (A+)

 

5 Books Worth Mentioning:

The Consorts of Death (Arcadia Books, 2009) Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett. Originally published as Dødens drabanter in 2006 by Gunnar Staalesen (A+)

A Cure for All Diseases (Harper, 2009) First published in 2008 by Reginald Hill (A+)

Paisaje de otoño (Tusquets, 2013) Primera edición en Tusquets 1998 por Leonardo Padura (A+) English title: Havana Black.

In Bitter Chill (Faber & Faber Crime, 2015) by Sarah Ward (A)

Someone Else’s Skin (Headline, 2014) by Sarah Hilary (A)

Meme: New to me Authors, October to December 2015

During the fourth quarter, I’ve read  eight books by new to me authors.

I’m glad for having read all of them and I’m looking forward to reading more of their books.

Please have a look at Mysteries in Paradise here to see what other bloggers have to say in this sense. 

Someone Else’s Skin (Headline, 2014) by Sarah Hilary (A)

The Big Bounce (Phoenix, 2009) First published in 1969 by Elmore Leonard (A)

Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle (Purple Panda Press, 2015) by J.A. Lang (B)

Knock, Murderer, Knock! (Dean Street Press, 2015) First published in 1938 by Harriet Rutland (A)

Snowblind (Orenda Books, 2015) Translated by Quentin Bates, 2015. First published in Icelandic as Snjóblinda, 2010  by Ragnar Jonasson (A+)

The False Burton Combs (Les Editions de Londres, 2013) First published in the Black Mask Magazine in December 1922 by Carroll John Daly (Not rated)

Ten Star Clues (Dean Street Press, 2015) First published in 1941 by E. R. Punshon (B)

The Case of the Constant Suicides (Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989) First published in 1941 by John Dickson Carr (A+)