2012 Arbossar

Village: Torroja del Priorat. Vine age: 60 years old. Cariñena. Vineyard aspect: north west. Climate: Mediterranean. Soil type: llicorella (decomposed slate or schist). Vineyard size: 1.5 ha. Dominik Huber has been obsessed with this tiny piece of land since he arrived in Priorat. The grapes macerate for one week before being pressed in a vertical press and the fermentation ends in tank. Two years’ ageing in Austrian foudres. The wine is still youthful but showing a very promising future. The nose is floral, full of small red fruits, with a mineral expression, pencil lead and really spicy (liquorice). Very soft astringency for a Priorat, with gentle, ripe and good quality tannins. A very delicate version of Priorat. It is an exciting wine that could be a benchmark of the new Priorat style. (FC)

Another single-vineyard Cariñena from a 60-year-old north-facing plot on a slate slope while clusters were fermented with natural yeasts. The 2012 L'Arbossar aged in a combination of 500-liter French oak barriques and 2,500-liter Austrian foudres. The fruit here is dark and ripe without any excess; think bitter cherries and damsons that also have an acidic side. The palate is medium-bodied, with some ripe and dark flavors expressing the slate, but the freshness of a north-facing vineyard, the minerality is a rugged texture, a tactile sensation more than flavors. Oh, hold on! This is Cariñena, so that might have also added to it! Again, this is a great showing for L'Arbossar. I tasted a yet-to-be-bottled sample of the 2013 which was showing great, livelier, more red fruit-driven, more electric and full of flowers and minerals. 5,000 bottles produced.||I tasted and discussed the wines with Dominik Huber, which is always a pleasure. Huber think he's finally getting to where he wants to be, creating wines with finesse but with the power of Priorat. | His 2012s show no oak whatsoever. The wines have more stuffing and at the same time more elegance than 2011. He's very happy with the vintage, it has much better results than he expected after the harvest, which is a common refrain with a number of producers in Priorat. In 2012 he likes Les Tosses very much; he calls it liquid graphite, the Priorat in the glass.| He's also proud about the new seriousness of the 2013 Terra de Cuques which has the minerality of the Pedra de Guix: this is also a wine that needs no less than six months from bottling to start opening up and show something. The 2013 Torroja has tons of fruit, perhaps less of a purist's wine than previous vintages, more accessible. His strategy for the future is to start bottling a little bit earlier, after 11 months in oak, and to try giving the wines a little more time in bottle before they are sold. The Torroja and Terra de Cuques will move to 100% cement, with no oak whatsoever. Terra de Cuques is already there, but Torroja is on its way. | After many years Dominik Huber has bought part of Eben Sadie and they remain friends but are not financial partners anymore. There are some new wines from Terroir al Limit this year, some of which were produced in minuscule quantities and not exported to all markets. Quantities are so limited that I didn't get to taste them!| I tasted a really great collection this year, 2012 is a fantastic vintage, but I have the feeling that 2013 might be even better. Stay tuned... eRobertParker.com.June, 2015