92 POINTS: JAMES SUCKLING - Really perfumed and beautiful with lots of bright fruit and spices. Lots of lavender, too. It’s full-bodied with creamy tannins. Delicious finish. Drink or hold.
92 POINTS: ROBERT PARKER'S WINE ADVOCATE - The Capçanes village red 2019 Negre was produced with 75% Garnacha and 25% Cariñena from organically farmed vineyards on clay soils, fermented in stainless steel with full clusters (they don't have a destemmer here or in Priorat) and bottled unoaked after six months. It has aromas of licorice and Mediterranean herbs. It has character and is light and ethereal, in the direction of the 2018, with fine-grained tannins and a stony sensation in the mouthfeel. This is incredible; it has 12.5% alcohol and is fluid, fresh and incredibly easy to drink. This is young but very approachable.
Coming from Dominik Huber, founder of trailblazing Priorat winery Terroir Al Límit, these wines explore the edge of what is possible in the Priorat, making energetic, lower alcohol wines from the hot, twisted slopes of llicorella slate in a DOQ famous for power. The Negre de Monstant is a blend of 75% Grenache, 25% Carignan from 25-30 year old vines. Whole cluster fermentation with wild yeast in stainless steel. No pigeage or remontage. The wine undergoes a short maceration (approximately 10 days) after which they are pressed and allowed to finish fermentation. Juicy and dark fruited, this is a wine of purity and restraint.
