2016 Terroir al Límit Vi d’altura Les Tosses, Priorat

There are two Vi d’altura, or ‘pinnacle’ wines, that are produced here: Les Tosses and Les Manyes. These are Terroir al Límit’s finest Priorats, as tasted through the prism of Cariñena (for Les Tosses) and Grenache or Garnatxa (for Les Manyes). These are simply two of the greatest red wines emanating from Spain today. Both are naturally fermented and aged in large French oak vats for two years. The 2-hectare Les Tosses vineyard sits on a stony ridge to the northeast of the village of Torroja, at an incredible altitude of 650 metres. It is one of the very few ancient vineyards at this height and has deep, black slate soils. The bush vines here are mainly Cariñena with a tiny percentage of Garnatxa and are more than 90 years old. They face east, like watchmen guarding the valley, and are planted at a density of 6605 plants per hectare. Dominik Huber only uses the best portion of this ‘Grand Cru’ site for this bottling, the rest going to the village wine. The fermentation was 100% whole bunches with indigenous yeasts, and pressing occurred halfway through the fermentation and then the wine went to a 1200-litre Stockinger cask for 20 months aging. The notes speak for themselves.

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“The 2016 Les Manyes is a hard act to follow, but I could have said the pure Cariñena 2016 Les Tosses was a Garnacha, such is the elegance and the floral, nuanced nose! This might be the most elegant Cariñena out there. It comes from a very old, steep vineyard in the village of Torroja on very dark slate soils. It matured in an oak foudre, quite old, and there is a nice note of graphite and wet slate, red and black cherries and a spice touch. It has great freshness, good acidity and is fluid and relaxed, powerful yet elegant and harmonious. 2,668 bottles were filled in July 2018.”

 robertparker.com

“The purity to this 100% cariñena is very, very impressive with rose petal, tar, asphalt and dark-fruit character. Full body. Tight and compact with beautiful depth and endless length. So much graphite and intensity. Chewy at the end. Drink after 2021.”