2021 Terroir al Límit Vi d’altura Les Tosses, Priorat

Most wines from 2021 felt very young, a little closed and perhaps a little reductive too, like the 2021 Les Tosses. The wine has moderate ripeness and alcohol at 13.5% and has a medium-bodied palate with very fine tannins. It's still young and undeveloped.

97+ points Luis Gutiérrez robertparker.com

Vi d’Altura, the equivalent of Grand Cru. There are two Vi d’Altura wines produced here: Les Tosses and Les Manyes. These are Terroir al Límit’s finest Priorats, as tasted through the prism of Carignan (for Les Tosses) and Grenache (for Les Manyes). They are simply two of the greatest reds emanating from Spain.

 The two-hectare Les Tosses vineyard sits on a stony ridge of deep, black slate soils to the northeast of the village of Torroja, at a striking altitude of 650 metres. It is one of very few ancient vineyards at this elevation. The 80-year-old bush vines are mainly Carignan, with a tiny percentage of Grenache. They face east, like watchmen guarding the valley, and are planted at a density of 6,605 plants per hectare. These vines, along with those of Les Manyes, receive the most intricate attention from the Terroir al Límit team, with each vine treated like a prized possession.

Dominik Huber uses only the best portion of this ‘Grand Cru’ site for this bottling (the rest goes into the village wine). He ferments 100% whole bunches with indigenous yeasts. Pressing occurred halfway through, and then the wines went into concrete vessels for eight months. It is not cheap but it is one of Spain’s finest reds, and made in tiny quantities.