2015 Terroir al Límit Vi d’altura Les Manyes, Priorat, Spain

Green capsule (Vi d’altura or equivalent of Grand Cru). 

Very limited. High in the Montsant ranges, the Les Manyes vineyard is located at the even more remarkable altitude of 800 metres (the highest in Priorat). This cool, north-facing vineyard is only 1.4 hectares and the vines here are now about 54-years-old. While Les Tosses is planted to Cariñena on pure llicorella slate, the Les Manyes site is predominantly clay with elements of quartz, chalk and limestone, and is planted almost exclusively with Garnatxa. It’s a site that produces a Priorat Grenache like no other. If we had to put forward a single wine that symbolises the unique wines of Dominik Huber, then this would be it. It is the antithesis of Priorat’s blockbuster image with the intensity, finesse and transparency of a great Grand Cru Burgundy. Huber ferments this cuvée with 100% whole bunches and indigenous yeasts, and again, presses off half-way through the fermentation before finishing the wine in single Stockinger foudre. As usual, there is an even greater finesse in the mouth than the Les Tosses. Yes, it is expensive, but it is, without doubt, a great, great (and rare!) wine. Again, there is no point us trying to outdo Luis Gutiérrez below!

‘The otherworldly 2015 Les Manyes is a completely different Garnacha from Priorat, as it comes from a high-altitude vineyard on clay and limestone soils with a total absence of slate. From a cold terroir at 800 meters in altitude, this is very perfumed, floral, exuberant and open, nuanced, elegant and complex. The wine also has structure and concentration but doesn't show it—or just shows it in a subtle way. This has an electric palate with lively, almost citric acidity. Every year the wines seem to be better... Where is the limit? 1,865 bottles were filled after 24 months in a Stockinger foudre, yet the wine shows no oak at all. This is truly outstanding, possibly the best Les Manyes ever. I couldn't help but to think about Rayas when I tasted this...’