One of the most HOTLY ANTICIPATED stages of the year has come to an end, and that means another SENSATIONAL /WORLD TOUR WINE/ !!

Today's stage finish on l'Angliru was a bit tamer than recent years, missing some fog and moto breakdowns, but still a great day of racing. Our wine today comes from just south of Asturias, in the appellation of Bierzo in the far northwest of Castilla y Leon. This is a hilly/mountainous region, where the grapes were brought here millennia ago by the Romans (who else?) who stripped these mountains for gold. The vast majority of wine grown here is fruity and intense Mencia red wines, but about 20% are Godello, today's grape, which makes a delightful white.

Bodegas y Vinedos Gancedo 'Capricho' Val de Paxarinas 2024 ($27)

Pours a pale straw with light gas. The nose is super lively with grapefruit, white pear, white flowers, sea spray. The palate follows with lovely chalky minerality, medium-plus acidity.

This is a great wine, lively, fresh, delightful in texture and fruit. I still keep thinking back to how disappointed I was in my Rioja which was literally 5x this price and half as enjoyable. Anyway, a great wine today for a great stage! Still so much good stuff to come!