Les Manyes 2018

On the label, Les Manyes says "Vi d'altura". Translated from Catalan, this means. Wine from the heights. This single-varietal Grenache comes from a 1.5ha plot at the northern end of the Priorat at the foot of the Montsant mountain at an altitude of about 800 metres. There, the 70.75-year-old vines stand on a plateau of argile and at first seem completely unspectacular. To be precise, it is a mutation called Garnacha Peluda, which has a slight fuzz on the berries. Since the 2016 vintage, Dominik Huber has completely moved away from wood for the Les Manyes. At 100%, this wine is aged in cement tanks. He himself says that this is the best wine made by Terroir al Limit to date.

In the 2018 vintage, there were 3338 bottles.

Bright cherry red, bright reflections

It's wonderful to see how the winery keeps reinventing itself stylistically in recent years. The dark fruit and color intensity of Les Manyes has been shaken off. Cranberry, red currant, sour cherry and rosehip gives a much brighter impression than in years past. Colored pepper, oregano, toasted almond, green olive and red fruit tea reveal a very ambivalent and at the same time extremely exciting play of aromas. Words like power, concentration, opulence are much in place here.

At the palate it hits the exact same notch. The fruit is wonderfully intense on the palate. Red aromas in all facets immediately fill the mouth and throat space and determine the reverberation for a long time. Les Manyes in 2018 shows itself to be delicate and playful. The 14.5% alcohol by volume is wonderfully integrated. Now it reveals a brilliant linearity. Straight as a candle, it shoots forth. It clearly has substance underneath but presents itself in the form of a great Pinot Noir. Deep as the night.