Terroir Al Limit - Priorat Les Manyes 2022

In 2000, Eben Sadie and Dominik Huber first met at Mas Martinet. Eben was a promising and highly-regarded young enologist from South Africa. Dominik, a native German, was a wine enthusiast with a business administration background but with interests in the culinary arts. In short order, they became fast friends.

With the help of the Pérez family of Mas Martinet, Eben and Dominik purchased some fruit and leased a little corner in the cellar of Cims de Porrera, where they vinified their first vintage of Dits del Terra in 2001. After two years at Cims de Porrera, they moved into a tiny cellar in Torroja del Priorat. The move coincided with the first vintage of Arbossar in 2003. In the following years, they released additional cuvées: Torroja in 2005, Manyes and Tosses in 2006, Pedra de Guix in 2008, and Terra de Cuques in 2011. Since its founding, Terroir al Limit has slowly evolved its understanding of the Priroat as a region as capable as Burgundy in its complexity and potential to make elegant and transparent wines. The Torroja and Terra de Cuques are the village wines, Dits del Terra and Arbossar the Premier Crus, and Manyes and Tosses are the Grand Crus.

Since 2021, Dominik Huber has worked exclusively with concrete and a little stainless steel, and he sold all the oak he had in the cellar.

Tasting Les Manyes blind is a thrilling exercise. Without a reference point to guide you, you find yourself wandering around the Mediterranean confused if you’re in Spain, the Rhône, or Piedmont. There are a couple of reasons why Les Manyes is so unique in the Priorat. Firstly, this is not Garnatxa on llicorella; instead, it is Garnatxa Peluda grown on clay soils rich in chalk and gypsum located in the mountains above the village of Scala Dei – making for a wine with a distinctly different mineral profile that one normally expects from the Priorat. Secondly, it is made by Dominik Huber, who farms these grapes biodynamically, harvests them a few weeks before his neighbors, ferments them whole-cluster with indigenous yeasts, favors infusion over extraction, and presses half-way through the fermentation before finishing the wine and aging it in concrete tanks to preserve its soulful, red-fruit driven character.

"(100% Garnacha Peluda). The 2022 vintage of Les Manyes is the Terroir al Limit project's jewel in the crown in the Priorat DOQ (Qualified Designation of Origin). It marks a turning point for a wine house that is not afraid to forge a new path defining styles within a designation of origin steeped in history. Time has proven them right. This winery has found a new way forward in which elegance, fluidity, and terroir expression live together in perfect harmony in Priorat. Tasting Notes: Elegant, taut, fruity, wild, full of life, juicy. Colour: Cherry. Nose: complex, expressive, spicy, mineral, floral, scrubland, chamomile, Palate: elegant, full-bodied, long, great length. It evokes countryside and soil and has tension, with the freshest fruit and a stunning mineral undertone. Such expression is even more surprising from a hot, dry vintage like that of 2022. This proves that this is a wine that can achieve expression even in challenging times, provided it is tended to by experts and the place of origin is truly magical. Les Manyes is a west-facing vineyard located in Scala Dei, 800 metres up Montsant's hillsides." - 100 Points Peñín Guide 

"A pure Garnacha Peluda from a high-altitude vineyard at 800 meters above sea level on limestone soils in the Montsant mountain, The 2022 Les Manyes is a pure Garnacha Peluda from vines that were planted 60 years ago, from a high-altitude vineyard at 800 meters above sea level on limestone soils in the Montsant mountain. It fermented with full clusters and indigenous yeasts for seven to eight days. The wine matured in concrete for eight months. It's delicate, pale, ethereal, elegant, floral and perfumed, quite primary with purity of flavors. It has certain lightness, subtle flavors and a dry finish. 3,008 bottles were filled in May 2023. 2024 - 2034" - 97 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Producer: Terroir al Limit

Country: Spain

Region: Catalunya

Varietal: Grenache

Appellation: Priorat

Vintage: 2022

Size: 750ml