Terroir Al Limit Les Manyes 2021 750ml

The impressive 2021 Les Manyes was very young and a little closed, even reductive and took time in the glass to take off. It slowly developed an acute note of violets and wild plants. It has a little more color than the 2019, but the maceration was more or less the same, so it must be from the year. It's very attractive, juicy and easy to drink, with notes that made me think of Château Rayas. It's fresher than the 2019 I tasted next to it. It's elegant and fruit-driven, right now very young, and it still doesn't have the complexity that it should gain over time. 2,688 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2022.

The 2021 Les Manyes is 100% Garnatxa Peluda from Montaña del Montsant in Priorat. Sourced from clay and calcareous soils, this wine is an exception in the area. Fermented and aged in concrete vats, it’s a light garnet red with subtle strawberry aromas and hints of rose petal. Light and lean on the palate, it features a gently warm, chalky mouthfeel supported by taut, vibrant acidity and fine tannins, leading to a cleansing, lasting finish. This is a modern interpretation of Priorat.

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.