Quinta da Muradella Quinta da Muradella Treixadura Bajo Velo 2013 750ml

José Luís Mateo farms this treixadura in clay soils at 1,510 feet, using the altitude to temper the heat of Monterrei. He farms under organics and lets the wine ferment spontaneously before leaving it in barrel for 18 months under a veil of flor (bajo velo). This 2013 is the current release, having aged an additional five years in tank. Through all that time, the wine sustained treixadura’s zesty freshness while it developed a level of complexity that would satisfy lovers of mature Burgundy. It may have been grown in clay, but it tastes like stones, its golden color replayed in scents of orange blossoms and toasted hazelnuts. It has the remote wilderness feel of the forests at the edge of Mateo’s vineyards.

The name of the old Crianza Oxidativa, only bottled in 2009, has been corrected, and I tasted the 2013 Treixadura Bajo Velo, as José Luis Mateo produced the wine with Treixadura, which aged under a veil of yeasts — thinner than the one he obtained with Dona Blanca — on and off for some 12 to 18 months. It has a stronger soil character than the effect of the flor, which, as it happened with the 2009, might grow and develop stronger in bottle. For now it has a profile that is much closer to his other whites than anything from Jerez or Jura. 2,000 bottles were filled in August 2016. This is sold without appellation of origin.