Winemaker Notes
Les Tosses is a steep, 90 year-old vineyard of head-pruned Carinyena on llicorella soil that Dominik Huber discovered while riding his motorbike on the twisting and mountainous dirt roads around Torroja. While many growers in the Priorat preferred Garnatxa or were planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, Dominik saw the potential for pure, old-vine, Carinyena. Inspired by the Burgundian concept of terroir, the minuscule yields from Les Tosses are not blended with any other variety, or Carinyena from other sites. It is harvested by hand, with whole cluster native fermentations, infused rather than extracted, with only two weeks on the
skins before pressing. It finishes fermentation and malo in a single 1200L Stockinger fuder where it rests undisturbed for 18–24 months.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
At this point in time the single-vineyard and top-of-the-range Cariñena, the 2012 Les Tosses, feels very reductive and needs lots of air. It has an incredible pH of 2.98, and in the dry 2012 season these 90-year-old vines on black slate at 650 meters altitude behaved magnificently. The wine matured for two years in oak foudre from Austria. The nose takes forever to take off so you have to guide yourself by the prodigious palate where the balance is gobsmacking (literally!) and full of an earthy, rustic and mineral character that has hints of liquid graphite and tree bark. It really shows the essence of Priorat. The 2013, still not bottled, is tremendous as it is much more open, very indigenous and something to look for next year. If 2011 was a triumph over the vintage conditions, this 2012 had the growing season working for it and the results are even better. This year Tosses and Manyes are at the same quality level. On day two the wine is completely open and expressive showing no sign of fatigue or reduction whatsoever. To the contrary, it shows fresh and much better. This should develop tremendously in bottle.
-
James Suckling
Complex aromas of blackberry, dried flower and stone. Full body, good clean fruit and a fresh finish. Straightforward.
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.