Terroir Al Limit Les Manyes 2015 750ml

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...

Lithe and energetic, this focused red delivers raspberry and strawberry flavors, deepened by notes of mountain herb, mineral, tar and toast. Firm tannins and citrusy acidity give this a tensile structure. Expressive, a bit wild and alluring. Drink now through 2028. 16 cases imported.

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.