TERROIR SENSE FRONTERES | MONTSANT

Vèrtebra de la Figuera 2022

Terroir sense Fronteres began as a quest to harness the unique minerality and soul of Montsant and give liquid voice to the restraint and freshness of the complex hills surrounding Priorat through the special Grenache vines that grow there. Garnatxa Fina is a local grenache with bigger berries and thinner skins that thrives on the plateau 600 meters up the Figuera mountain in pink clay and gypsum-laced vineyards. The old bush vines range from 40-80 years of age and in these cooler, late-ripening sites lend the varietal wine a nearly Pinot-like elegance and purity. The grapes are vinified for up to 10 days in cement tanks, and then aged a further 8 months in cement.

The cool Grenache fruit radiates elegance and altitude - nearly Alpine in its precision - and just a hint of attitude. Aromas of smoky black fruits, ripe blackberries and crunchy pomegranate mingle with accents of licorice and fresh forest herbs. The elegant palate opens into a wild ride of sun-soaked fruits, chalky cool nights and tremendous structured concentration. A persistent acidity courses through the wine just below the surface like an underground stream. Fine tannins shape and 
hone the taut body into the picture of refinement.
Location La Figuera
Age 60 years old
Altitude 700 meters
Varieties 100% Grenache (Garnacha fina)
Soils Red clay with the gypsum layers
Alcohol 14 %
Location La Figuera
Age 60 years old
Altitude 700 meters
Varieties 100% Grenache (Garnacha fina)
Soils Red clay with the gypsum layers
Alcohol 14 %
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When fermentation is finished, the wines are aged in cement for a period of 6 months. The use of cement instead of oak in the aging process results in a wine that is powerful in flavor yet light in body, a long and complex expression of Grenache and the heights of the Figuera Mountain where the vines grow.
Reviewed by Luis Gutiérrez | The Wine Advocat

The 2017 Vertebra - Figuera is sourced from two old vineyards planted with Garnacha in the village of La Figuera. It is light and super long, with an herbal twist (à la Cabernet Franc), very spicy, with great complexity, floral and aromatic. The early-harvested grapes fermented with full clusters and indigenous yeasts in concrete vats and were kept in concrete for five to six months.

It’s very impressive, with a very tasty palate, fine, chalky tannins and very good length. This is a light and elegant Garnacha. It’s really impressive for a first harvest and very pure, expressing the variety and place, a cooler part of Montsant in a higher-altitude village where the soils are red and have a strong limestone component. A very light-colored floral red with the spirit of a white. They expect to fill some 4,000 bottles of this in March 2018.