2016 Terroir al Limit Arbossar Priorat DOCa Spain 750 ml

From the 12th-century monasteries to the buildings of Gaudí, the pan con tomate to the avant-garde cuisine of Albert and Ferran Adrià, Catalonia balances tradition and innovation like nowhere else. This graceful Priorat embodies that culture, in a red from ancient vines made by relative newcomers.

Terroir al Limit has been seeking out old-vines and making a name for themselves in the early 2000s when Dominik Huber, a curious German (with a culinary background) and Eben Sadie, South African enologist embarked on redefining the reputation of Priorat— “fostering of wines of infusion rather than extraction, and elegance rather than the typical heaviness of the Priorat.” It is no coincidence that the bottle is Burgundy shaped--the estate draws on winemaking techniques of traditional vignerons of the Cote d’Or.

Arbossar begins with 90-year-old Carinyena vines grown on the prized schist and granite soils. The grapes are harvested earlier than many in the region, preserving freshness in the grapes. The fermentation occurs slowly and gently without any mechanical intervention. The wine integrates as it ages in cement and large neutral casks allowing the wine to develop a long silky tannin structure. The resulting wine is dense with flavors of blackberry and white pepper that has remarkably elegant finish. 

The wines of Terroir al Limit have not only been a favorite among the sommelier crowd, but the critics. The winery is often featured on the top lists from James Suckling and this 2016 Arbossar bottle received 96pts from both James Suckling and Wine Advocate.