Description
REVIEWS
“… We’re amazed by the first vintage of Terroir Sense Fronteres,” James Suckling
ABOUT
To any who know Dominik Huber’s ground-breaking Priorat wines, Terroir al Límit’s move into Montsant was always going to result in something outstanding and cutting-edge. If you’re new to the story, the genesis of Terroir Sense Fronteres began in 2015 when Huber finally managed to purchase his iconic primus inter pares Garnacha vineyard, Les Manyes (the source of one of Spain’s most remarkable red wines). As part of this purchase Huber was also able to acquire an adjacent four-hectare parcel of Garnacha vines just across the Priorat border, in the DO Montsant (this vineyard is called Els Montalts). While the terroir here is almost identical to Les Manyes, Montsant is another DO, and so a new project was born. Huber is adamant that while Montsant does not share Priorat’s fame, its finest terroirs are every bit as exciting—a point clearly made in the quality of these wines. The first releases (2017) were made in the Terroir al Límit cellars in Torroja but from this second vintage, all the wines have been crafted in Montsant itself, in a small winemaking facility in Capçanes.
The Montsant DO forms a doughnut-like ring of mostly steep, mountainous terrain that encircles Priorat on all sides. The vineyards are at wildly varying altitudes (Terroir Sense Fronteres’ vines lie between 350 and 800 metres). Growing conditions are, generally speaking, considered a little less severe than Priorat proper, thanks largely to the altitude. While Priorat’s famous llicorella (slate) soils are also found in Montsant, there is more variety here, with clay, sand, gypsum and limestone all playing their part. The soils of Montsant often have a reddish colour (as distinct from Priorat’s typical greys and blacks). Aside from the plethora of exciting terroirs and the old vines on offer (outlined below), Montsant DO regulations also allow for the production of lower alcohol wines; minimum alcohol levels here are 12.5% for reds and 11.5% for whites, compared to 13.5% for reds and 13% for whites in the DOQ Priorat. Huber has always said he would pick his Priorat wines at lower alcohol of it did not mean losing his DOQ status, and so the Montsant project has brought an element of freedom he has been craving.
As well as Garnacha from the Els Montalts site, the Terroir Sense Fronteres portfolio includes a Garnacha from the cool, high-altitude slopes of Figuera (near the old slate mining villages of El Lloar and El Molar) and Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo, Garnacha and Cariñena from mature parcels around Capçanes. Huber is also very excited about an ancient parcel of Garnacha Gris which he has access to in Cornudella, which should come ‘on tap’ shortly. The vineyards are managed organically—biodynamically in most cases.
Working alongside Huber, Head of Oenology at Terroir al Límit and Terroir Sense Fronteres is the talented Serbian-born vigneron, Tatjana Peceric. Peceric’s rare touch with high-grown Garnacha and Cariñena is cast, clear as crystal, across these wines, and it’s no coincidence that the purity and refinement of the Terroir al Límit range has also soared under her watch. Over in Montsant, the winemaking is essentially a facsimile of the practices at Terroir al Límit (although these wines see no oak at all). All of the wines (except the skin-contact white ‘Brisat’) are fermented as whole bunches in concrete, amphorae and stainless steel, and extraction is as gentle as possible (Peceric and Huber work with the infusion-rather-than-extraction model).
There are no bells, no whistles, no oak, just clarity and vibrancy, succulent, textural fruit and the tremendous finesse that only a special and meticulously farmed place can gift. These are beautiful wines born of the stony terroirs of Montsant, and carry the unique, mineral signature of their slate- and limestone-rich soils. They also have the kind of freshness, lightness of being, crunchy-juiciness and sensuality that had long been lost to Priorat until Terroir al Límit’s appearance on the scene.
