Terroir al Límit Priorat Les Manyes 2017

Vi d’altura, the equivalent of Grand Cru wine. High in the Montsant ranges, the Manyes vineyard is located at the remarkable altitude of 800 metres (the highest in Priorat). This cool, north-facing vineyard is only 1.4 hectares, and the vines are now about 54 years old. While Les Tosses is planted to Cariñena on pure llicorella slate, Les Manyes is predominantly clay with elements of quartz and limestone, and is planted almost exclusively to Garnatxa. It’s a site that produces a Priorat Grenache like no other—if we had to put forward a single bottling that symbolises the unique wines of Dominik Huber, then this would be it. It is the antithesis of Priorat’s blockbuster image with the intensity, finesse and transparency of a great Grand Cru Burgundy.

Huber ferments this cuvée with 100% whole bunches and indigenous yeasts, and as of the 2016 vintage, the wine has seen no contact with wood. As usual, there is even greater finesse in the mouth than the Tosses. Yes, it is expensive, but again we’re talking about one of Spain’s greatest reds, with a tariff that still remains about one-third of its closest Priorat competitor. While the 2017 did not bring home the big 100 (as did the 2016), Huber and Peceric profess to prefer this vintage as it’s a wine that points more towards the style and purity of Les Manyes they have in their mind’s eye.