Winemaker Notes
Dits del Terra gets its name from the gnarled, nearly 85-year-old vines of Carinyena that look like ancient fingers clawing into the schist soils of this site near the village of Torroja. This is one of the first vineyards that Dominik and his then partner, Eben Sadie, acquired when they started making wine together in the Priorat. Being south-facing, it is also fascinating to taste it alongside L’Arbossar, its nearby, north-facing twin
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Reductive and a little decadent on the nose with some dried roses, ripe berries, wet earth and moss. Extremely bright and lively on the fleshy palate with lots of sap, succulent and fine, firm tannins. Meaty fruit with so much verve and purity. Long and broad finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Dits del Terra shows lower alcohol and more freshness, and it has an herbal note and feels very young and undeveloped. Like most of the 2021s, they shortened the time of aging, and it was completely in concrete and didn't touch any oak (they sold all the foudres). There's purity and precision, elegance and freshness.
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Vinous
The 2021 Dits del Terra is 100% Cariñena from Priorat. A rare example of a light red from the warm southern- exposed slopes, it offers candied sour cherry aromas with faint hints of leaves and marmalade. Dry and rich yet vibrant on the palate, the nuanced flavors and fine-grained tannins add depth to its mild character. This red pivots on heightened acidity, providing a cleansing mouthfeel-a different wine style for Priorat.
Responsible for some of the most stunning old vine red wine on the planet, Carignan has an amazing capacity to survive dry, arid climates and still produce lovely, mouthwatering wine. In Spain it goes by the name of Mazuelo or Cariñena and while it may have originated there in the province of Aragón, its popularity lies elsewhere, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon. Somm Secret—Historically Carignan did not enjoy the respect that it does today. In the mid 20th century, Carignan covered nearly 140,000 ha in Algeria, where it was made into low quality bulk and blending wine to supply mass-market demand.
Tiny and entirely composed of craggy, jagged and deeply terraced vineyards, Priorat is a Catalan wine-producing region that was virtually abandoned until the early 1990s. This Spanish wine's renaissance came with the arrival of one man, René Barbier, who recognized the region’s forgotten potential. He banded with five friends to create five “Clos” in the village of Gratallops. Their aim was to revive some of Priorat’s ancient Carignan vines, as well as plant new—mainly French—varieties. These winemakers were technically skilled, well-trained and locally inspired; not surprisingly their results were a far cry from the few rustic and overly fermented wines already produced.
This movement escalated Priorat’s popularity for a few reasons. Its new wines were modern and made with well-recognized varieties, namely old Carignan and Grenache blended with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. When the demand arrived, scarcity commanded higher prices and as the region discovered its new acclaim, investors came running from near and far. Within ten years, the area under vine practically doubled.
Priorat’s steep slopes of licorella (brown and black slate) and quartzite soils, protection from the cold winds of the Siera de Monstant and a lack of water, leading to incredibly low vine yields, all work together to make the region’s wines unique. While similar blends could and are produced elsewhere, the mineral essence and unprecedented concentration of a Priorat wine is unmistakable.