Terroir Al Limit Torroja 2006, Priorat

My second trip to little, but beautiful and indulging (refering to the wines - of course), Priorat so far. This time to a relatively juvenile wine project called Terroir al Limit. In the early years of new millennium the restaurateur Dominik Huber, the local vintner Jaume Sabaté and the South African Swartland “wine revolutionist” Eben Sadie started to produce biodynamic and terroir oriented wines in small and highly elevated parcels of the Priorat Mountains. Today’s wine is the entry level red blend Torroja from 2006 which was predominantly made from Garnacha and Cariñena grapes (+ a bit Syrah and Monastrell). I hope it won’t be too butch and alcoholic ;-)

The colour of the Torroja was purple red, thick, definitely intransparent and full of “nasty” particles. The tint itself looked rather juvenile and vigorous. The really impressive and strong nose showed a buttload of fat, spicy, super ripe dark cherries (even a bit Maraschino or liquor ones), plenty of ethereal herbs, hints of rum cake (not disproportional), mild liquorice, very gentle smoke and a certain amount of strength and elegance (with a slight tendency to brawny violence). The alcohol influence was definitely present. However it seemed very well integrated. The taste did not veil its qualities either. I got very powerful and present impressions of juicy dark cherries (plus traces of black currant), ethereal herbs, mild smoke, not so much liquorice, some Brazilian tobacco and highly distinct and profoundly gripping mineral features of slate soil. There was more to the structure than just brawniness and slightly savage intensity. It showed a fair amount of freshness, even a bit unusual “lightness” (can't find an adequate term), a lot of lively tannin and very persuasive elegance. Alcohol (14,5 %) was surely present, but in an acceptable manner. The finish was long lasting and “animating”. I was never under the impression to stop after just one glass. To me the 2006 Torroja was a very decent ***** and not just by sheer power dominated Priorato with convincing complexity and elegance. Nice one for an entry level, but not really reasonable, redster. I wish, I’d enjoyed the successor vintages of the Torroja like I did this one. The 2007 and 2008 seemed a bit very different. Rather hard to  compare them with the 2006 - I guess ...